The Political Game
by The Moon's Heart
Summary: This is set ten years after the death of Gwen's first baby,Sara. Theresa has finally decided that Ethan is moron. The story shows how Theresa has moved on and chosen a career in politics. Unsigned reviewers please leave email adress.
1. Her Point of View

She sat in her new office. She was proud that her hard work had finally paid off. He wouldn't be able to treat her like crap again. She now had more power than him; and she was happy that he was miserable. He had made her suffer with is incoherent decisions and his misleading actions towards her. Since leaving Harmony, Theresa Lopez- Fitzgerald was more happier than ever. She had manage to pull herself away from the mess that was Ethan. She even went to school and got herself an education; an education in politics that is. She became national debate champion at the University of Wisconsin and decided that, that was her calling in life. After ten years of hard ardous work she was now the new proud govener of New York. Theresa made sure that she let her power be known to the rest of the world. She would call just befor an execution was about to be carried out, and would make family and friends cling to the sudden pause as she made her decision about whether or to continue. 

Instead of living off others for money, Theresa was so much more richer than she could have ever dreamed of being. She made millions of dollars just by showing up at certain store or charity event. She had also developed a talent for business. She opened up her first store five years ago; of course, she had named it after her name. Theresa's was now a huge fashion store. It mainly carried business suits for those women who were becoming more independent like herself. 

Theresa had done the unthinkable; move away from Harmony. She had no more friends there anyways. Whitney and Theresa broke off their friendship, when Whitney blamed Theresa for the death of Gwen's first baby; Sara. Theresa had enough with the abuse that she was receiving from her family and her friends. She was tired with how her mother had treated Luis. She wouldn't let him tell the truth to Antonio. It had been ten years and Sheridan was stuck with her clueless oldest brother. He still did not know that William was actually Luis's not Antonio's. Pilar was now living in Nevada with her new boyfriend, Jamal. Pilar and Jamal did not look good together. He was 31 and she was just turning 60. As for Miguel, he had gone off to school away from Charity and Kay for good. From Theresa understood, Miguel was now studying at Berkely University at Cal. He was going to become a Chemical Engineer. Theresa's oldest sister Paloma had gone threw a nasty divorce to her lawyer husband. She got nothing out of the deal, and ended up loosing her two youngest childeren to husband. Chad and Whitney had finally broken it off. They had gotten married in L.A ten years ago. The marriage had only lasted two years the first time. They then remarried again a year later, and had made it through another six years before giving up. They had two children together, Carla and Alyssa. Chad had become a sucessful music scout. Whitney on the other hand didn't make it past a year in the music world. She instead turned to acting, where she made guest appearences on Friends, The West Wing, and The Practice. Whitney was now staring on Charmed as Piper's friend who is really evil. 

As for dear old Gwen. She was have the time of her life; not! She was miserable she was stuck with Ethan after Theresa decided to leave. But that is what she had wanted. She wanted Theresa to leave her and Ethan alone. So why was she so unhappy? Because Theresa had ruined her life, economically and emotionally.


	2. The Shack We Live In

" Julie, April, Morgan, and Veronica, dinner is ready." She called out tentevly. They couldn't make the mortgage payments, so they ended up selling their house. They moved to a small farm shack in the southern part of Massachusetts. As she heard her kids come rumbling down the old worn out stairs, she began to feel depressed again. Her husband was off working second shift at the local gas station. School was to begin soon, and she had to go the local clothing shelter to buy close for her four daughters. Soon there would be two more kids on the way. She had picked out the names Stephen and Kyle if they were boys; and Meghanne and Alyssa, if they were girls. 

Gwen's life was ultimately ruined. After Julian was able to get rid of her leech of mother, Rebecca, he fired Ethan from his job. Ethan could not find work anywhere. What made it worst was her father's business had gone down the drains. When he had died, there was no money left; and there went her inheritance. Ethan was now forced to work at a gas station. The meals on the table were low budget TV dinners. They were hardly enough to feed four growing girls. Rebecca was now also working. She didn't have a choice. She worked as a grocery bagger at the local Fry's in town. Rebecca lived with Ethan and Gwen; her paycheck went towards rent and food. 

After five years it was still hard for both Gwen and Rebecca to get used to their new life style. It was especially hard for Rebecca. Not only was she forced to live in an old run down shack with her four grandchildren, she had to work in order to get money. After they each ate their TV dinners, the phone rang. Rebecca, who had fallen asleep on the kitchen table, didn't budge from her position at the table. Gwen reluctantly got up and answered with tired hello. 

"Gwen, I have great news." Ethan replied to Gwen's lifeless hello. 

" What is it, did you get promoted to manger at the gas station?" Gwen snapped back. 

Without being able to recognize the harsh tone in Gwen's voice, Ethan continued on proudly. 

"I just got a new job at Chad's record company." Ethan pronounced ecstatically. 

"In L.A?" Gwen asked with anger.

"No, not in L.A in a branch in NY." Ethan said.

"What will you be doing?" Gwen asked this time in a curious manner.

" I will be handling the legal aspect for the music branch in NY." Ethan said. 

"Fine, whatever so when will be leaving for NY?" Gwen asked.

"Tomorrow at 5 in the morning." Ethan announced.

"What, I thought we would have more time for you know, taking the kids out of school, and packing. Ethan do you ever think about anyone else in this house besides yourself." Gwen began yelling.

With that Gwen slammed the phone down. Gwen wonder to herself why she was still in this sham of a marriage. She knew deep down in her heart that Ethan didn't regard her as his true love. He merely thought of her as charity case. She knew that he stuck by her out of guilt. He still felt guilty for the death of their baby girl, Sara. That is why he stuck with her, that was why they shared four girls together and possibly two more. Gwen, who was now feeling an overwhelming tired, retreated upstairs to her bedroom. Tomorrow would be along day. The future for Gwen was still unclear. 


	3. The Grumpy Old Inmate

She sat there, hands covering her face, for what seemed like hours. How could her life come to this. Once she was beautiful young rich women; and now she was nothing. She used to go around flouncing her warjobe around. Now she flounced around an old orange jumpsuit. At least it wasn't black and white stripes she thought to herself. She hadn't seen her oldest son in years. He was too busy trying to support himself. Her thoughts were interrupted by the guard who came into her cell. 

"There's someone here to see you." The guard said sharply. 

She followed the other guard out threw the small long hall. The guards opened the double doors, and she walked through reluctantly. There he was, her other bastard son. He was sitting down calmly in his chair. She walked to the small booth, sat down, and picked up the phone from the receiver. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked impatiently.

"Why mother, is that anyway to talk to your favorite son?" He shot back sarcastically.

"Your not my favorite son; in fact, I can't stand the sight of you." She said with more anger in her voice. 

"Now mother, that's quite rude. I love you. I love you so much, I had no choice but to put you away for a long- long time." He said with a smile on his face.

"You are such an evil child; if I had a chance I would kill you." She said threatenly. 

"Mother, you shouldn't say things like that. I mean isn't that what your in here for." He said while trying to hold back his laughter. 

"You know, I still have no clue as to why you're here." She said again.

"Well, I wanted to see what it was like to see you rotting the rest of your pity little life in jail." He said eagerly. 

At this point, she couldn't take it anymore. She got up, picked up her chair, and began to beat it across the glass that seperated her from her son. He sat there watching his pathetic mother being detained by the police, and dragged away from the window to her cell. Wow he thought, that was quite theraputic. I'll have to do that more often. 

He walked across the room to the payphone and began to dial the phone. A sleepy voice now greeted him. 

"Hello?" She said. 

"Hey, it's me. I just got done with a visit to the jail." He said to her.

"Oh, and how is your lovely mother doing." She said.

"Hey cut the crap out, she's not lovely; she's bitchy. He said to her. 

"Yeah, well she'll never change. So will I be seeing you anytime soon." She asked. 

"Of course you will. As you know I'm never late for work." He said to her.

"Well, when will you be here?" She asked again. 

"In a few hours. Go back to sleep; we have a long day tomorrow." He said to her before hanging up the phone. 

Walking out of the penetentray , Fox Crane got back into his car, and prepared for the long brutal drive back to NY.


	4. Eyeryone's in NY

Her alarm clock went off around five. She reluctantly pulled herself out of the bed, and hopped down the stairs to the dinning room. Today was going to be another long day for her. She had budget cuts to go over, and a charity ball to go to later in the even. She was running late for an important meeting at her new fashion store. She paged the housekeeper to get Ethan up and made her way out the door.   
  
The freeway was already crowded and she still had an hour drive to her fashion store. As she was driving her cell phone immediately went off. She debated on whether to pick it up or not. By the fourth ring she began to realize that whoever it was, they were not going to leave her alone.  
  
"Governor Lopez-Fitzgerald." Theresa said with annoyance in her voice.   
  
"Hey there's no reason to get annoyed." The man said over the phone.   
  
"Fox, are you in NY yet?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Yeah, I'm on my way to your house." Fox pronounced.  
  
"Well, change of plans. Meet me at Theresa's." Theresa said.  
  
"Oh so you're going to make me travel out of my way to Theresa's." Fox said sarcastically.   
  
"Just get over there as soon as you can." Theresa demanded.  
  
"Yes Governor; whatever you say." Fox said.  
  
Theresa got off of the freeway and headed into her fashion store. Theresa decided to get a head start on being reelected. She was going to hold a major charity event.   
  
"Miss. Watson, is everyone here now for the meeting?" Theresa asked.   
  
"Yes, except for Mr. Crane." Miss. Watson pronounced.   
  
Theresa went into the meeting room where there were about 20 people sitting around the meeting table waiting for her. Theresa had learned speak in front of large room in college. She knew that this group of people wasn't close to the amount of people she had had to speak to in the past. She took her seat at the front of the table and pulled out her briefcase.  
  
"Theresa's is going to hold its annually Fall charity." Theresa stated.  
  
"Um, Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald we haven't had a Fall charity yet. We've only opened up this year." Felix Johnson told Theresa.   
  
"I know that Felix. I mean we are going to start our own Fall charity." Theresa restated annoyingly.   
  
"For our charity, we are going to find a family who is in need of clothing. Over the next two weeks we are going to hunt the streets of Manhattan for the perfect family. Every single one of you are going to find me my family for the charity event. On top of that, I will be giving that family $20,000. Any questions? Theresa asked.   
  
"Yes, Ms. Lopez -Fitzgerald, How will we know who is the perfect family?" Felix asked.  
  
"Felix, you'll know." Theresa said irritably.  
  
"Yes, but how will we know?" Felix asked again.  
  
"Felix you'll know or you'll loose your job." Theresa shot back angrily.  
  
"Theresa, you got to learn to be a little nicer, or they'll never learn to love you." Fox said as he entered through the door.  
  
"I don't want them to love me, I want them to get up from this table and find me my family."  
  
After these last words from Theresa, the employees got up and headed for the door as quickly as possible.   
  
"Man Theresa, you sure know how to clear the room." Fox said.   
  
"Well, Fox you don't get to be governor by just sitting around." Theresa said.   
  
"Well, then how do you become governor Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald?" Fox asked.  
  
"By negotiating and if need be force." Theresa answered him.   
  
"Well, I can't argue with that." Fox said.  
  
"So, wants some breakfast?" Theresa asked.   
  
"Why not." Fox answered.   
  
"Miss. Watson, have our breakfast brought up to us please." Theresa said.  
  
"Yes Ms. Lopez- Fitzgerald. What kind of juice would you like with that?" Miss. Watson asked.   
  
"Two Raspberry- Lemonades please." Theresa answered.   
  
"Yes ma'am." Miss. Watson said.   
  
"So where were we?" Theresa asked.  
  
"I think you were going to tell me about this new charity event that Theresa's was holding. Fox said.   
  
Theresa was about to tell Fox about her new charity idea when the phone rang.   
  
"Governor Lopez-Fitzgerald." Theresa said.   
  
"Theresa it's me Luis." Luis said.   
  
"Luis what can I do for you." Theresa said.  
  
"Theresa you need to come out to Nevada." Luis said.  
  
"What? Why?" Theresa asked in a confused manner.  
  
"Mama has married Jamal." Luis said in an angry tone.  
  
"Damn it!" Theresa said out loud.   
  
"What's wrong?" Fox asked.   
  
"It's my mother; she's going to cost me the election." Theresa shouted out 


	5. How Much Longer

The alarm rang and woke Gwen from her dreamless sleep. She sat up in her bed and began to slowly awake. It was two o'clock in the morning and Ethan was not home yet. Gwen was quite happy that there was nothing to pack-up. They really didn't have much anyways. Gwen went into the girls room and woke each of them up. Julie and Morgan jumped right out of bed. They were excited about their trip to NY. April and Veronica however, were just like Rebecca; stubborn. Gwen went into the bathroom and filled up a cup with cold water. She walked back into April and Veronica's room and threw it on them. She then went into Rebecca's room and did the same exact thing. 

"Gwen honey, why did u do that." Rebecca whined. 

"Because mother we have to get ready to go." Gwen said impatiently.

"Yeah but now you got April and Veronica crying. Gwen make them shut-up." Rebecca demanded in a pleading voice. 

"You know what I really don't care. They can all they want. In fact, they can stay here; it'll be two less mouths that I have to feed." Gwen yelled back at her mother.

"Oh honey, you don't mean that. You're just tired from the pregnancy that's all." Rebecca explained. 

"You know what, I'm not. I'm tired of Ethan and these stupid little children that's what I'm tired of. Gwen said to her mom. 

As Gwen was telling this to her mom, Morgan walked in. She looked at her grandma and then she looked back at her grandma, before crying. 

"Morgan get in your room now or you can stay back with your two stupid little sisters" Gwen said to Morgan. 

Morgan wiped her tears with her hand and walked sheepisly back to her room. Gwen couldn't take it anymore. This was not the life she had pictured for herself. She had four children and was living in a shack with her husband that worked at a gas station. When her first two daughters were born everything was alright; but right after April was born, Ethan was fired. That was four years ago, and now here she was with four girls and two more children on the way. She loved her daughters very much; but at the same time she despised them as well. They tested her every single chance she got. Julie and Morgan were her favorites. She couldn't help but play favorites with her two eldest. Her two youngest were as stupid as their father; and as bitchy as their grandmother. Gwen walked back into Morgan's room and sat down next to the six year old girl. 

"Honey I'm sorry. I'm just under a lot of stress. You know I would never leave you here. Right?" Gwen asked the small child in a comforting voice. 

Morgan shook her head yes and Gwen smiled and patted her head. Just as Gwen was getting up from her position on the bed she heard the front door open and slam shut. Great she thought to herself, he's here. Gwen walked down the old worn out stairs to greet her husband. 

"Gwen what are you doing up?" Ethan asked her.

"We are leaving in about an hour and a half." She said to him in a belittling tone. 

Not being able to pick up her tone or her sarcasm, he said oh and proceeded upstairs to see the girls. Ethan was now thirty- three years old. He was contempt with his life and thought Gwen was too. Although he hated living with Gwen's mother, she had become a valued asset to the household. The girls loved her telling stories about when she was young and rich. He loved his girls very much, especially April and Veronica. They were always happy. Julie and Morgan were more like their mother; practical. Ethan had four girls and a son he never saw. About six years ago the truth came out about who was little Ethan's father. April was just a little baby and Gwen was pregnant with Veronica. Ethan did not want to put stress on Gwen and the baby so he moved with Gwen to the Northern part of Massachuetts. Since then, he never tried to contact Theresa. A few years later Gwen lost her inheritance and Ethan lost his job. When Chad called about the job in NY, he was more than willing to take the job offer. Ethan thought that this job would change the future for him and Gwen. Little did he know he was getting all that he deserved and much much more soon. 


	6. Harmony

She sat down in her favorite chair. The winter days were coming upon them quickly. Her husband was off talking to their neighbors. He thought that she didn't know about their anniversary party; he was wrong. She was dreading the thought of having to celebrate another year. Time she felt was running out for her. Her life was marked by misery and it was getting worse. Once she had a little hope, now that was all gone. For a surprise, her husband had planned a trip to NY. Man he was dumb; he just didn't get it. He planned these surprises and thought she didn't know about them. The worst part was having to act surprised. She heard her son come down the stairs and gave him a reclusive smile. Before looking out the window to make sure he wasn't coming home yet. 

Mr. Andrews was happy to see his neighbor. Ever since they had moved into the country cottage just outside Harmony, he had become aquainted with his wife and child. Now here he was coming to talk about the surprise party for his wife. 

"Mr. Andrew a moment of your time please." The man said.

"Yes, Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald." Mr. Andrews said.

"I want to make sure that you will be over at our house around four o'clock." Antonio said. 

"We'll be there." Mr. Andrews replied. 

After Antonio received his reply, he smiled at Mr. Andrews and proceeded on his way home. He couldn't wait to see the look on Sheridan's face. He had noticed that lately she had seemed a bit bitter towards him. He had especially noticed that this had started to happen right after Luis moved to Nevada to be with mama. He didn't understand what was wrong her. That is why he planned a trip to NY with her and his son. Antonio arrived at the front door and noticed that Sheridan was pacing around in the living room. He saw a worried look on her face and began to worry himself. He had never seen her like this before. He entered the front door with caution.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Antonio asked her. 

"Nothing just leave me alone." She said annoyingly.

"Sheridan what's wrong you? You've been acting like this since Luis left for Nevada." Antonio asked in a hurt voice. 

"You want to know what's wrong, I'll tell you what's wrong." Sheridan started to scream. 

"What Sheridan, what?" Antonio pleaded. 

"I can't stand you anymore. You make me sick. You're so dumb. I don't want no stupid party and I definately don't want to go to NY with you." Sheridan started to scream even louder.

"Sheridan we've been married for ten years. When did I become sick and dumb to you, and how did you know about the party and NY? Did Mr. Andrews tell you about the party and the trip to NY. I told him not to but...

"Oh will you can it you moron. I have known all along about your plans. I also have something else to tell you." Sheridan snapped at him.

"What?" Antonio asked pleadingly.

"I'm going to Nevada to be with Luis. I have been in love with him since before I knew you. It was all a big misunderstanding. I'm going back to Luis and one other thing. William is not yours he's Luis's.

Sheridan than ran out of the house to her car and drove off as fast as she could. Antonio stood in the cottage dazed and confused at the news that he had just received. William then ran past Antonio and made his way towards the door for school. Antonio did not know what to do. He picked up the phone and began to dial. Luis was going to die for tearing up his family he thought. 


	7. The Business Meeting

Theresa arrived in Albany just in time for her business meeting. She was going to discuss a few budget cuts the state had to make. Theresa was concerned about cutting school funding to public schools. She wanted to make sure that nothing was taking away from the schools. She arrived at her office and was greeted by her secretary Mrs. Peterson.  
  
"Good afternoon governor." Mrs. Peterson said.  
  
"Good afternoon. Did any calls come from my mother or my brother?" She asked politely.   
  
"Um, yes as a matter of fact your brother called three times looking for you." Mrs. Peterson said.  
  
"Well, did he say anything?" Theresa inquired again.  
  
"Yes he said that something was wrong with his wife." Mrs. Peterson responded again.  
  
"His wife? You must have heard wrong. Luis is not married." Theresa explained to Mrs. Peterson.  
  
"No he said his wife Sheridan. That's what he said I'm sure of it." Mrs. Peterson said in a sure voice.   
  
"Oh, it wasn't Luis it was Antonio. Did he say what was wrong?" Theresa asked.   
  
"No, he just said that something was wrong with Sheridan his wife." Mrs. Peterson explained again.   
  
Theresa could not believe that this was happening to her. One bad thing after another seemed to be ocuring in her life. First it was her mother's riduclus marriage to that phony Jamal and now this. She was wondering what could possible be going on with Sheridan and Antonio. She wondered if Sheridan had finally buckled after having to live with Antonio for more than ten years. She could see that the pressure was getting to her the last time that she her.   
  
It was Christmas eve and everyone was gathered around the fireplace. Ethan and William were out in the back yard making snow angles while the adults were inside talking to one another. Luis was standing in the corner tired and frusturated with the whole situation. Sheridan was forced to sit there and pretend. They wanted to tell him so badly, but of course mama would never let that happen.  
  
Pilar always seemed to put Antonio's happieness before everyone else. Theresa never understood this. The fact was Antonio abandoned them years ago. It took him years before he would finally grace the family with his presents. After Antonio was miraculousy cured, they were finally going to tell him the truth. Pilar made sure to stop them every time by making up some sort of excuse just when the truth was going to come out. It made her mad that Luis was suffering when it should have been Antonio. If the truth had finally come out, then so be it. She was tired playing pretend for the big baby. Every thing was about not upsetting Antonio. No matter what Antonio's happiness came first to Pilar.   
  
After thinking about the situation for too long, Theresa left her office for the business meeting on budget cuts. Theresa walked into the meeting and again took place at the front. Instead of twenty people, this time there were fifty people waiting to hear proposel. She sat down and was not even twenty minutes into her meeting before the phone rang in the conference room. She was utterly annoyed and picked up the phone and said a rude hello into it.   
  
"Governor your brother is calling for you again. I told him that you were in the middle of a very important meeting but he refuses to hang up until he talks to you." Mrs. Peterson said in an afraid voice.  
  
"Gentleman, if you'll just excuse me for a second I'll be right back." Theresa said in her most polite voice.   
  
Theresa walked down the hall to her office. She was getting very angry by the second. What did he think that she was going to do for him. She was going to be his shoulder to cry on. This should have happened along time ago, but because of mama it didn't. She couldn't believe that he demanded to talk to her in the middle of her meeting. She couldn't wait to get on the phone and straigten him out. She walked through her office door and slammed it behind her.   
  
"Antonio are you there?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Sheridan left me for Luis and I think that Luis somehow tricked her." Antonio stated madly over the phone.   
  
"Antonio, wake up and smell the roses will you. Before Sheridan met you in Bermuda she was with Luis. In fact before she went to Bermuda, Sheridan, Luis, Ethan, and I were going to be married. Some unfortunate events happened and Sheridan went missing for months. Then one day she showed up in Harmony with you. They were going to tell you the truth from the beginning but mama would let them. She was babying you Antonio like she always does. Now Sheridan and Luis have lost ten years together and I have a meeting to go to. I'll call you later Antonio." Theresa said before hanging up the phone.   
  
Theresa walked through her office door and back to the conference room. Man this was going to be a very long day she thought. 


	8. Author's Note

First of all, to all those who have read and reviewed my story, thank you. This isn't my first story, but it's my first Passions story. I appreciate all of the encouragement I have gotten.   
  
I couldn't decide if this story should be from Theresa, Ethan, and Gwen's point of view only. As I was getting further along however, I decided to incorperate as many of the other characters as possible, without loosing site of the main focus; Theresa. Everyone's story will focus around Theresa in some way.   
  
Thanks for reading and reviewing. 


	9. The Perfect Family

Felix was worried about his job. He had had tiny mess ups in the past that had forced Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald to come down way too hard on him. She hated him asking her questions, and most of all, she hated to answer them. If she had made the tiniest mistake, and he had pointed it out to her, that was it. Making Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald mad was like wishing to loose your head. She was ruthless business woman and with Mr. Crane by her side, she could not be challenged. It was harder to get ideas out in the open with Fox Crane overseeing most of the matter. He was just as ruthless as Theresa but in a more sly way. Fox Crane became president of Theresa's three years ago when it first opened. He had major success with the company and was heading up some of Theresa's other aposals.   
  
Felix knew that he had to find the perfect family before anybody else did. He knew that that was the key on getting on Theresa's and Fox's good side. If finding the perfect family would do that than so be it, that's what he was going to do then. Felix wasn't sure were to start he knew that if started in the outskirts of NY he would possible be able to find a family that lived in a rundown cabin. Felix decided to start in the city looking. He looked around for hours, he was about to give-up when he saw a family come out of the airport and get into a taxi.  
  
Felix followed the family in his car. He followed them where they would eventually make it into the heart of Manhattan. The taxi pulled up to a music studio and the family got out and took their two small suitcases out of the trunk. The man paid the driver and went into the building while the two ladies and the children waited outside for him to return. Felix parked his car on the opposite site of the street and walked across. He sat on a bench closest to the family and took out a newspaper. He spied on the family while pretended to by interested in an article in the NY Times.  
  
The man came out of the hotel and gave his wife a sorry expression.  
  
"What do you mean that we have no place to stay?" Gwen yelled at Ethan.  
  
"I mean that Chad didn't leave a note or anything." Ethan replied.   
  
"Ethan you said that Chad was going to let us stay at his pent house." Gwen continued on yelling.   
  
"Yeah well I guess he forgot to leave a key." Ethan said.   
  
"So can't you just go in there and call him?" Gwen asked again.   
  
"He won't pick up his cell phone." Ethan replied.   
  
"Ethan we have no more money left what are we suppose to do?" Gwen said while trying to hold back tears from streaming down her face.  
  
"Excuse me folks, my name is Felix Anders and on behalf of the Governor of NY, we wanted to inform you that you are the winners of a contest." Felix said after hearing enough of Ethan's and Gwen's conversation.   
  
"What do you win?" Rebecca asked excited.   
  
"Well, a week at the Sheridan and clothes from the hottest fashion store in NY. Plus $20,000. Felix said throwing in the Sheridan because the family had no where to stay.   
  
There faces lit up with joy except for Gwen's who was still skeptical of the whole situation, but reluctantly went along with the rest of the family. Felix got the family settled into three rooms. One for the grandma, the husband and wife, and the kids. He was so excited about his accomplishments that he had to telephone the office and tell them that the search for the perfect family was over. Next week, Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald would be giving away an wardrobe and$ 20,000 to this poor family, and all because he had found the perfect family. 


	10. Job Offer

Gwen was so mad at Ethan, that she couldn't control her voice. She was so tired with his stupidity. She didn't understand how someone ,who had a degree in law, coul not get a decent job. They should be well off, Ethan was suppose to be making good money. She didn't see a reason as to why her mother and her had to work. Gwen didn't mind working. In fact she was going to look for a job as soon as she gave birth to the twins. She couldn't wait to get away from Ethan and the children. They were now becoming a nuesence to her. The girls were always fighting and Ethan just stood there and said girls will be girls. Gwen always thought the saying was boys will be boys but let it go for now. She was in no mood to deal with the girls and him on top of that. She paced back and forth before opening the door that joined Rebecca's room to her own. She slammed the door behind her to let Ethan know that she was mad.   
  
"Mother I can't take staying in this sham of a marriage. Why can't I just get a divorce?" Gwen asked her mother.  
  
"Gwen you can't divorce. Ethan will go back to that Mexican slut if you do." Rebecca explained to her.   
  
"Mother I don't care. Let him go back to her. It won't matter though." Gwen said to her mother with a wicked smile on her face.   
  
"Yes it will. If Ethan goes back to Theresa and starts making good money again then you'll be stuck living in a shack again raising six kids with your mother." Rebecca said to her daughter.   
  
"First of all Ethan can go and try to find Theresa all he wants because he won't find her. Secondly, I have a job interview tomorrow with that guy Felix." Gwen pronounced with a happy look on her face.   
  
"What do you mean he won't find Theresa? Did you have her killed like I told you to do?" Rebecca said with a smile on her face at the thought of Theresa being dead.   
  
"No, I didn't. No one but her family knows where she is. She could be laying in a ditch for all we know." Gwen said with another smile.   
  
"Okay then, this is what we'll do then: we'll wait until we get our new wardrobe and $20,000, and we'll start the divorce proceedings." Rebecca said to her mother.   
  
"I'll get this job, you'll get job and Ethan and I can share custody of the children." Gwen said loudly.   
  
"Gwen keep your voice down we don't need Ethan hearing our plan." Rebecca said in a whisper.   
  
"All I know is that he can have April and Veronica, and when the twins are born he can have sole custody of one of them also." Gwen said to her mother in a much lower voice then before.   
  
Gwen snuck back into her room and laid down next to Ethan. If all things go perfectly as planned, Gwen would soon be rid of Ethan, April, and Veronica. She would then have the $20,000.00, the wardrobe, and her two oldest daughters. She prayed that she would be able to get this executive job at the fashion store. Gwen went to bed with happy thoughts in her mind. She was now becoming more certain that the future looked more clearer then it ever did. 


	11. Nevada

She couldn't believe that she had finally left him. Eleven years of torture was too much for her. Her cell phone had been ringing constantly. They were all messages from Antonio and his mother. She didn't pick up or listen to one single message left for her. She kept on driving until she got to her destination. 

She arrived at Stevenson middle school and signed William out. She then made her way to the airport with William. He sat there in silence not asking a single question. They arrived at the airport and Sheridan purchased two tickets while William waited in silence. When they finally boarded the plane, William finally began to speak. 

"Mom why did are we on this plane?" He asked her. 

"Sweetie there is something I have to tell you but I want to wait to explain it to you." Sheridan replied. 

"Is it bad?" William asked her. 

"No it's very good news." Sheridan said to him in a soft voice. 

William smiled at his mother. He now felt reassured by her actions. William always felt close to his Uncle Luis and to his mother Sheridan. He sometimes wished that Luis was his father. His father, Antonio, seemed so clueless half the time. He wondered where they were going. He hoped that they were going to see his grandma and new grandpa. Maybe they were going to see his aunt in NY or his uncle in Berkley. 

"Mother, where are we going?" William asked Sheridan.

"We're going to see your uncle Luis and your grandma and your new grandpa.

"Why is dad coming with us?" William asked her. 

"He won't be coming with us ever again." Sheridan said to him.

"What? Why? I thought you said that everything was alright." William said to his mother. 

"Your father and I are getting a divorce." Sheridan said to him. 

"NO! Mother you can't." William yelled at Sheridan.

"First of all you are to never yell at me again and second of all I can get a divorce and I am going to get a divorce.

"Yes mother." William said with guilt in his voice for yelling at his mother. 

The rest of the plane trip silent. William had fallen asleep and Sheridan had to nudge him to wake him up. She called Luis and got his answering machine. She called Pilar to tell her that she and William were in Nevada and that she wanted William to stay there for the night. Pilar reluctantly agreed and Sheridan hung up as soon as she could. 

Pilar was furious with the way that Sheridan was treating her Antonio. All she wanted was for Antonio to be happy. She had no sympathy for Luis. She knew that he could take care of himself. Antonio though needed Sheridan and William. Now Sheridan was going to take that away from him. It wasn't fair how everyone took away things from Antonio. She wasn't going to let Sheridan do this to Antonio. It didn't matter how unhappy Luis and Sheridan were. As long as Antonio was happy nothing mattered. She saw the cab pull up and she went out to talk to Sheridan. William got out of the cab and ran up to his grandma. She hugged him and told him to go inside. She was going to talk to Sheridan when the cab pulled away. That bitch! She's going to see Luis. Well I won't let her do this to my poor poor Antonio. Pilar got into her car and rushed to Luis's. 

Luis got came running outside once he heard the tire skids. There she was on the ground and his mother standing over her. He saw Pilar lean over her and start to choke her. He ran down the stairs to the first floor and pried his mother off of a Sheridan. 

"Mama what have you done?" Luis asked Pilar. 

"I made sure that she will never harm my Antonio." Pilar said.

"Mama what did you do?" Luis asked in a serious voice. 

"She told Antonio the truth she come out here with William to be with you she's going to divorce Antonio." Pilar mumbled. 

"What have you done?" Luis asked again.

"I've stopped you and Sheridan from ruining Antonio's life." Pilar said to him.

"Mama please answer me." Luis said again.

"When she got out of the cab I hit the gas and killed her. I killed the bitch that tried to hurt my Antonio." Pilar yelled at Luis. 

Luis couldn't believe what he was hearing. He picked his hand up and slapped his mother across the face. He looked down at Sheridan who laid lifeless on the ground. 


	12. The Call

Ethan ran into her room and woke her up. She jumped out and ran to the downstairs to the phone. Ethan stood there waiting to hear what was going on. Theresa looked over at her son and told him to get to his room. He obeyed her and she heard him close his door and began to talk to Luis. 

"Luis what's going on? Is mama okay?" She asked. 

"Mama is okay it's Sheridan." He said to her. 

"What's wrong with Sheridan? Did she come out to see you?" Theresa asked. 

"She did. It was too late. When I got out there it was already too late." Luis said to her.

"What do you mean too late? Is she dead Luis?" Theresa asked in a sad voice. 

"No not yet. She's just barely hanging on." Luis said to her. 

" What happened to her?" Theresa said.

"She was hit by a car. The lady then got out of the car and started to strangle her." Luis said. 

"What? Who the hell did this to her?" Theresa said in fury.

"Mama." Luis said.

Theresa dropped the phone in horror at what she just heard. She couldn't believe that her own mother would attack Sheridan. She knew that she was forcing Sheridan to stay with Antonio but she didn't think she would go as far as trying to kill Sheridan. She noticed that Ethan had come back out of his room. 

"Ethan go back to your room now." Theresa said.

"Mother what's wrong?" He asked her.

"Nothing now go back to your room." Theresa said to her. 

"Mother I heard you say that someone was hurt. Who's hurt? Mother tell me." Ethan asked and demanded at the same time. 

"Sheridan was hurt badly in a car accident. Now go back to bed." Theresa said to him. 

"But mother..." Ethan tried to say.

"Go now or I'll have Katherine put you to bed." Theresa said growing more angry by the second. 

Without anymore arguing, Ethan went back to bed. Theresa picked up the phone and took two deep breaths. 

"I'm on my way Luis. I'll get the next flight out there as soon as I can." Theresa said to him before hanging up the phone. 

She called the airport and was able to get a flight out at 4o'clock in the morning. That was four hours away. She needed to call Fox. Ethan could stay with him until this whole ugly mess was over. 

"Hello? Who is it?" Fox said in a sleepy voice. 

"Fox it's Theresa. I have to go out to Nevada I need you to watch Ethan for me." Theresa said to him.

"What? Why?" Fox said in a curious voice. 

"My mother tried to kill Sheridan." Theresa said. 

"So I guess the truth came out. Let me guess my sister told Antonio and she then left for Nevada causing Pilar to loose her temper." Fox said to a stunned Theresa. 

"How did you know that?" Theresa asked.

"Oh come on Theresa, even I could tell how mad she was getting when she saw Sheridan ignore Antonio at the Christmas Party last year." He explained to her. 

"I guess your right." Theresa said to her.

"Oh, hey before you go, what about your charity event give away. We were suppose to meet the family tonight for dinner." Fox said to her. 

" Cancel the dinner. No wait go to the dinner and meet them. I want you to tell me all about them on the phone later tonight." Theresa said to him.

Theresa went upstairs and got ready to leave. She woke Ethan up and put him in a limo to Fox's house. She then took a taxi to the airport. The flight to Nevada seemed like it took forever for her. First class was full of people who couldn't wait to gamble their money away. She got off the plane and had to wait through two hours of airport security before she was able to leave the airport. Instead of going right away to the hospital she went to the Nevada State Prison. She made her way to the front entrance and went up to the information desk. 

"I'm governor Lopez- Fitzgerald. I'm here to see my mother. Please take me to her." Theresa said to the officer. 

"Yeah I am sure you are a governor." He said to her sarcastically. 

Theresa hated to be laughed at and not taken seriously. The officers were cracking up at her expense. Theresa got mad and pulled out the newspaper with her picture on the front cover. She threw it down on the desk and the officers stopped laughing and sat their embarrassed at their mistake. 

"Now let me see my mother." Theresa demanded. 

Without any hesitation the officer led her to the cell where they were holding her mother. Theresa walked in and saw her mother sitting there expressionless. She saw Theresa walk in and just sat there staring into space. 

"Don't you have anything to say to me? I mean you have caused so much sadness to Sheridan and Luis. I don't understand why you want Antonio to be so happy." Theresa said angrily to her mother. 

"Antonio is my eldest he deserves to be happy with Sheridan." Pilar said to Theresa.

"Antonio hasn't always been here for us." Theresa said to Pilar. 

"Antonio needs Sheridan." Pilar said to Theresa. 

"What does Luis need mama? At least Luis stuck by this family." Theresa said.

"Antonio is my pride and joy." Pilar said to her. 

"Some pride and joy. Antonio couldn't take all those responsibilites after papa left us. Luis put his life on hold for this family and now he's putting it on hold for that bastard brother of mine." Theresa said to her. 

"Don't you ever call Antonio that ever again you ungrateful child." Pilar said to her. 

"Don't you ever tell me what to do again you ungrateful mother. If it weren't for Luis none of us would have survived." Theresa yelled at Pilar. 

"He won't let Sheridan leave him." Pilar said to him. 

"He won't have a choice if Sheridan survives." Theresa said.

"What do you mean if she survives?" Pilar asked her.

"Sheridan is now hanging on for her life thanks to you." Theresa said to her. 

"What's going to happen to me?" Pilar asked her daughter.

"If she survives then you'll be charged with attempted murder." Theresa said.

Theresa then left her mother to think about what she had just said. She got back into the taxi and left for the hospital. Sheridan was on the seventh floor of the hospital. When she got up to her room she could hear yelling coming from her room. She ran into her room to see that Sheridan had finally woken up and she had more company than Luis. Antonio was in the room as well. Sheridan was telling him to leave and he refused to leave her alone saying that they were married. He was telling the nurse to escort Luis out so that he and his wife could talk.

"Antonio get the hell out of hear now." Sheridan said in agony.

"Sheridan we're married and I'm not going to leave you nor am I going to get a divorce." Antonio said to her.

"Yes you are. Not only are you getting out you are also getting a divorce. Now get out Antonio." Theresa yelled at him.

"No. Sheridan and I were meant to be together." Antonio said to her. 

"Nurse please escort Antonio out of hear now." Theresa said. 

The nurses tried to remove Antonio but he would not leave he grabbed onto the bed and wouldn't allow anyone to move him. Theresa was becoming impatient by the second. As the nurses tried to pull him off the bed, Theresa came up to Antonio and punched him in the face. He got, with a bloody nose and lunged at her. Luis pulled him off of Theresa and threw him out of the room. He then shut the door and locked it. The nurses called security and then called the police. Antonio stood outside the door and started beating harder and harder against the door. Antonio kept screaming I'm going to kill you Luis. The hallway became silent as Antonio was taken away by the police. 


	13. I Want You to Leave us Alone

"I want you to leave us alone. Haven't you done enough to this family. Haven't you? I'll give you anything to leave us alone. Anything; just go away." She screamed at the girl.   
  
"There is nothing that you can possibly give me." She yelled back.  
  
"Yes there is. You're just waiting for me to move over and give it to you aren't you? You've been waiting for years for me to move over and give it to you. Haven't you." She began to cry.  
  
"If you didn't mess things up for me like you always had it would be mine right now." She yelled at the women.  
  
"Theresa he was never yours to begin with. He was mine. You destroyed his life you destroyed both our dreams. It doesn't matter how I feel about him. The only thing that matters is making you pay for the rest of your life. Not only did you destroy my wedding day, you took away my sweet baby girl." Gwen said to her.   
  
"I didn't kill Sara, you did." Theresa said to a shocked Gwen.  
  
"No I didn't. You and Ethan did; and like you he will pay for the rest of his life. " Gwen said to her.   
  
"I'll never be out of your life Gwen. Not now not later. Never." Theresa said to Gwen.  
  
"Just because he's the father of your child Theresa doesn't mean I won't make sure you're out of our lives." Gwen said to her.   
  
"See, while your grieving over your loss of your daughter, Ethan and I will be raising our son together; like the family we were always suppose to be." Theresa said to her.   
  
"No you won't. Ethan has promised to stay away from little Ethan, He'll pay child support but that's all he will do. Nothing more. I win again." Gwen said to her.  
  
As Theresa sat next to Sheridan, she remembered those very words like they had happened yesterday. Gwen was right again; she had won. When she confronted Ethan with what Gwen had told her, he had confirmed the news. He had stayed away from little Ethan like he promised he would. Theresa was heartbroken at the news; but unlike before, she was more determined than ever to get away from Ethan. She should have left on that plane when she had the chance; but she didn't. Now as she looked onto Sheridan she began to feel for the first time in a long time completed and utter abandoment. Ethan who was suppose to be so noble and loving left his son and his son's mother. Not only had she not heard from him in years, he didn't bother to pay a single cent in child support. Instead of taking him off to college with her, she had to leave him home with Pilar. She missed six years of her son's life and her son missed seven years of child support. She estimated that Ethan owed around $10,000.00 in child support. She was determined to make him pay it all up no matter what. The problem was she couldn't find him and Fox hadn't been able to hunt him down either. It was like he disappeared off the face of the planet.   
  
She knew that Gwen's father had died and that Gwen lost her inheritance because of her father's bad business dealings. She had read that in the paper, but besides that nothing. She couldn't find Ethan anywhere. Time went on and she had eventually given up hope of finding him and Gwen. She really didn't want to see them. She wished that she had never gotten caught up in their problems but she did. She didn't mean to. She just wanted to find love and happieness and she thought that Ethan was looking for that. When she used to cut out pictures of him in the various society magazines she could tell that he was looking for something more than being rich. He was looking for more than Gwen and her wealthy connections. He was looking for honest true love; and so was she. She decided from then on that she and Ethan would have the happieness that both of them had longed for.   
  
When she had finally gotten threw to him it was evident that they were on there way to complete blissful happiness. They were going to get married until someone decided otherwise. Someone had taken the information that she had so stupidly left on the computer and used it against her. From then on she came crashing down until she fell so low she began to doubt that she would ever get back up again. She didn't know that little Ethan was his. Rebecca had kept that information to herself. When she got the information that Julian and Theresa weren't married she had also found out that they had never slept together either. Rebecca didn't want anything in the way of Gwen and her happiness. She wasn't going to say anything until after Sara was born. She told them all the truth after Sara's death. Of course Ethan and Gwen had blamed her for their daughter's death. She knew that Ethan wouldn't care as much for little Ethan because he felt that she was to blame.   
  
Sheridan had finally awoken after being asleep for hours. She looked up at Theresa and smiled. She told Theresa that William was at Pilar's and asked for her to go get him. She agreed and quickly left to get William. On her way she tried to forget the past and look to the future. Besides in a few days she would be back in New York meeting a family that had won her charity giveaway. Life was good and it can only get better she thought. 


	14. I've Got a Plan

He stepped out of his car and made it all the way to his office. Mrs. Watson handed him his coffee and his newspaper and he sat down at his desk. Theresa wanted to find a new business adventure and he was on the hunt. He turned to the national new section and be reading.  
  
Craine Industries Gone Under  
  
After over a hunder years of power and money, Alistar and heir Julian Craine have finally driven the Craine's empire under. It has been reported that Julian and Alistar made some bad investments that have cost more than half their fortune. Sheridan Craine- Lopez-Fitzgerald made out good with her money though. She took her 100 billion inheritance ten years ago and split. Alister is selling the Craine Family home in Harmony for 200 million dollars. That is cheap compared to what it took to build it. There was no comment from Alister about the situation.  
  
  
  
In other new today, it's finally here; the auctioning off of the Hotchkiss mansion. The mansion belonged to late Johnathan Hotchkiss. Mr. Hotchkiss's business went under and five years ago. The mansion has been abandoned for five years. His daughter lost her inheritance and with that all of her old privelages as well. No one know where she is at this moment.   
  
Theresa you are one lucky lady. You're going to get everything that you ever dreamed of and I'm going to make that happen.   
  
"Mrs. Watson." Fox called Mrs. Watson into his office.   
  
"Yes." Mrs. Watson said.   
  
"Get me the realitor for the Craine and Hotchkiss mansion in Harmony." Fox said to her.   
  
"Yes one moment." Mrs. Watson said.   
  
It took some difficult persuading, not really, but Foxworth Crain was able to bring the price of the Crain mansion down to a measly 56 million dollars. He then talked the realator out of autioning off the house. He bought the Hotchkiss mansion for 240 thousand dollars. He knew that Theresa would be in later today and was excited to tell her about the new business adventure he had come up with. She was coming back from staying in Nevada for the week. Sheridan and Luis were moving out to New York with William. Ethan would finally have his cousin around and Sheridan would finally be away from Antonio. The battle with Antonio however, was far from over. He was refusing to get a divorce and claimed that William was his son not Luis's. Sheridan was now going to go the hospital in Harmony to prove that William was not Antonio's. Fox knew that William was Luis's. The kid was to smart to be Antonio's son. Theresa came threw the door really earlier than she was suppose to.   
  
"Good morning Fox. Did you find anything of interest for me today." Theresa asked him.   
  
"As a matter of fact, I did." Fox said to her.   
  
"What is it?" Theresa asked excitedly.  
  
"Well let's just say that you are now the proud new owner of two mansions." Fox said.   
  
"Mansions. How's that going to help me out?" Theresa asked him.   
  
"Theresa we can now start the biggest business adventure ever." Fox said.   
  
"How?" Theresa asked confused.   
  
"By making these once maganificant homes into hotels." Fox said.  
  
"Hotels?" Theresa said.  
  
"Yes, Hotels. What do normal average ever day people want? They want to stay in places that people with power and money used to own." Fox said to her.  
  
"What two mansions did you buy?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Guess." He said to her.  
  
"I have no clue. Did you buy the Vanderbuilt and Roosevelt mansions?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"No I didn't. I did better than that." Fox said to her.  
  
"What did you do?" Theresa asked.   
  
"I bought the Crane and Hotchkiss mansion." Fox said.  
  
Theresa stood there and stared at him. She couldn't believe what he had just said. When it finally had sunken in her face lit up and she smiled.   
  
"You know, you're right this is perfect. What kind of shape are they in?" Fox said.   
  
"Well the Crains will be moving their stuff out of the house within in the week and apparently know cleaned out the Hotchkiss mansion at all. They left all of the stuff in there. I can call to get it removed right away." Fox said.  
  
"No! Don't do that. I want to visit the Hotchkiss house right away." Theresa said.   
  
"Why?" Fox asked her; this time he was the curious one.   
  
"I want to see it. I want to see it as it is." Theresa said.   
  
"Ok then. When do you want to go?" Fox asked her.   
  
"Now I want to go right now." Theresa said.  
  
"Okay, do you want to first meet the person who Felix is interviewing?" Fox asked her.  
  
"No not right now." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Thank you so much for coming down today." Felix said to Gwen.  
  
"You're welcome." Gwen said back to him. 


	15. Hotchkiss and Crain

Theresa and Fox took a train out to Massachusetts instead of a plane. Theresa was excited to be starting a new business adventure. She had a plan to make Ethan pay for abandoning his son; and the Hotchkiss estate was the perfect opportunity for her. When they were finally in Massachusetts it took them another 2hours to get to Harmony. Theresa hadn't been back in almost ten years. The town was still small except it looked more alive. She went stopped at Whitney's old house and knocked on the door. The owner opened the door but to the astonishment of Theresa it was neither of the Russells.  
  
"Yes can I help you?" The women said.   
  
"Um... I'm looking for Dr. Russell?" Theresa asked.   
  
"I'm sorry she doesn't live here anymore." The woman said.  
  
"Does she still live in town?" Theresa asked.  
  
"No, I'm sorry. Dr. Russell only comes out to harmony once a month now." The woman said to her.   
  
"How Come?" Theresa asked shocked.  
  
"She lives up in Boston with her husband and in her two new little girls. She does fill ins for the hospital instead." The woman said to her.   
  
"Oh okay." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Miss, my name is Samantha Jerkins and I am the head doctor at the hospital. Is there something that you need." Ms. Jerkins asked her.   
  
" I just wanted to say hi she was my best friend's mother that's all. My name is Theresa." Theresa said to the women.  
  
"Wait. Are you Theresa-Lopez-Fitzgerald?" Dr. Jerkins asked her.   
  
"Yes I am. Do I know you?" Theresa asked.   
  
"No but I keep receiving a letter for you. I got one three years ago and another followed about a year ago. Here you go." Dr. Jerkins said.   
  
Theresa took the letter from Dr. Jerkins and looked at the handwritting. She automatically knew who the handwritting belonged to; it was Ethan's.  
  
"Theresa the limo is here are you ready to head over to the Crain estate?" Fox asked her.   
  
"Yeah I'm ready." Theresa said half there.   
  
"What's that?" Fox asked Theresa.  
  
"I don't know hear read it out loud when we get into the limo." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Okay fine whatever." Fox said letting Theresa get in first.  
  
Dear Theresa,  
  
I know that it has been awhile since we last saw each other; I guess it's more like ten years. I wanted to say that I am sorry for that. Theresa I haven't tried to contact you because I am afraid that you will try to claw your way back into my life like you had once did. Gwen and I are very happy together and we want to keep it that way. We now have four girls together and they are very lovely. I know that I haven't paid you any child support but Gwen and I agree that it was very and still is very unecessary for me to do that. I understand that we share a son but I have four other kids to think about. I hope everthing is going good for you in Harmony. I hope to talk to you one day.   
  
Sincerly,  
  
Ethan Winthroped.   
  
"Wow he wasted no time in blaming you for everything. Four girls, man they sure didn't waste anytime. Don't you think Theresa?" Fox asked joking about the letter.  
  
"I know." Theresa said in an upset voice.  
  
"Theresa I think that you are converting back to your old ways. Theresa you can't cry over Ethan your whole life." Fox said to her.   
  
"I know but I can't stop thinking about my son Ethan. When I was struggling and needing money and support, Ethan ditched his own son without a care in the world. Now I hear from him for the first time in a long time and what is his logical answer Gwen and I agree that I think it's unnessary because I have four childeren. I couldn't bring Ethan with me when I went away for college because I couldn't afford it. That was four years I spent away from my son; I didn't go ditch him because I wanted to; I left because I had to. Even while I was gone I still sent money to Ethan and my mom." Theresa started to yell at Fox while tears came pouring down her face.  
  
"Theresa I know that this letter has made you upset but you have to move on or else the past is always going to drag you down." Fox said to her.  
  
"I know but if all goes right with this new business quest I might just become the richess person in all of New England." Theresa said.  
  
"I already think you're richer than the Crains are." Fox said to a pleased Theresa.  
  
"What do you mean I'm richer than the Crains." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Well, Julian and Alister made some bad investment deals and it looks like Crain Industries took a huge dive. Since Alister gave Sheridan her inheritance and told her to get out, they don't have her money to survive. I got the house for 56million instead of 200million it's orginal price." Fox explained to her.   
  
"You paid only 56million for the Crain estate. What did they say when they found out that I had bought it?" Theresa asked him.   
  
"They don't know that any of us had anything to do with the purchase." Fox said to her.   
  
"Good then let's celebrate by having a party. No instead of a party let's have a ball to commemerate the purchase. Call up the cater and a party planner and tell them that we need arrangements as soon as possible for the ball.   
  
"Estella did you cancel the movers?" Julian Crain asked his maid.   
  
"Yes I did. What are we going to do with the stuff." Estelle asked her tired out boss.   
  
"Give it to the owners." Julianne said.  
  
"Will they take it?" Estelle asked him.  
  
"Of course they will take it. These are Crain heirlooms. They are part of the deal we made with the buyer." Julian said to her.   
  
The door bell rang and Estella opened the door. Julian thought that it would be the new owners but it was actually Sophia Harmony's party decorator and organizer.   
  
"Sophia what are you doing here?" Julianne asked her.  
  
"The new owners of your house called me and told me that they needed me to come down here and organize a ball that is going to take place tonight." Sophia said to him.  
  
"Oh well, go right on ahead with whatever you're going to do." Julian said to her.   
  
The door rang again and Julian thought that it would be the owners but instead it was the cater and then an architect followed the cater. The owners finally arrived in a black limo. Fox and Theresa got out of the car and knocked on the door.   
  
"Welcome." Estella said.   
  
"I'm so glad to finally be meeting you I'm..." Julian looked up mortified at the two people who were standing there smirking at him.  
  
"Go on finish up you are who again?" Theresa said to him.  
  
"What the hell are you doing here?" Julian asked her in an angry voice.  
  
"I'm here to look at my new house." Theresa said to him.  
  
"You could never afford this house. You're too poor to be able to buy this house." Julian said to her.  
  
"Actually you're too poor to own this house and I'm too rich for this house and you Julian." Theresa said to him.  
  
"How could you be richer than me? You disappeared with your family years ago. No, you'll never be rich ever." Julian yelled at her.   
  
"That's what happens when you move to NY, become governor, and open up a very successful fashion store. Now move your stuff out and get out Julian. I need to go over my plans for the house and I have no time for you." Theresa said to him.  
  
"I can't move my stuff it's for the real owner of this house." Julian said.  
  
"Fox call movers in and get rid of this stuff. Maybe there's some time of homeless shelter that wouldn't mind having half of this junk." Theresa said.   
  
"If you touch any of this stuff I'll call the cops and have you arrested for theft." Julian started to yell at her.  
  
"Fox will you please show him the title to this house and then make him go away he's really starting to give me a headache." Theresa said to Fox.   
  
Fox was only the more happy to oblige his bosses orders and pulled out the title to the mansion. Julian stared at it with fear and horror finally being expressed on his face. He looked at Theresa who gave him a huge smile then turned back to the architect.  
  
"Ronald I want you to start outside in the back of the house. Figure out how much more wider we are going to have to make this house. As soon as you get the figures I want to start right away." Theresa said to Ronald.   
  
"Figures for what? This house is a classic. Anyone would be proud to live in the condition that it is in right now. What are you going to do to it?" Julian asked her.   
  
"First of all it's crappy and second of all no one's going to live in it. Many people are going to stay in it." Theresa said to him.  
  
"What do you mean stay in it?" Julian asked afraid of the answer he was going to recieve.   
  
"It's my new business adventure. I'm creating hotels out of mansions that used to belong to powerful worthless families. There's going to be a ball tonight here. I'm going to reveal my intentions tonight. I have to get figures so I know how much to tear down." Theresa said to him.  
  
"This place is not made for normal people to stay in it. This place was made for rich people." Julian said snidely at her.   
  
"It used to be for rich people it's not anymore. Now if you'll excuse me I have work to do." Theresa said to him.  
  
"I can't believe that you're going to tear down this beautiful estate." Julian said to her.   
  
"Believe it. Fox show Julian out and then bring me the floor plans I have some serious work to do." Theresa said to him.  
  
When Julian was finally forced out of his old home, he took out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed his father's house.   
  
"Julian what is it. I have no time for your stupid games." Alister said retortly over the phone.   
  
"Father I just met the new owners." Julian said to him.  
  
"And," Alister said back to him.  
  
"And you're not going to like what I have to say." Julian said to him.  
  
"Just say it you moron." Alister yelled over the phone.   
  
"The new owner is Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald and she's turning the old Crain mansion into a hotel." Julian said.   
  
"WHAT? No this won't happen I wont let it happen." Alister said.   
  
"It will happen; and you don't have a choice Alister." Theresa said over the phone when she grabbed it from Julian. 


	16. Secrets and Lies

"Mother I have great news. I got the job. You'll never guess what the name of the company is." Gwen said to her mother.   
  
"What is it? Tell me." Rebecca demanded of Gwen.  
  
"The name of the store is Theresa's out of all of the names for a store Theresa just happens to be the name of the store." Gwen said to her mother.   
  
"You don't think that Theresa could own the store do you? Rebecca asked her daughter.   
  
"No I don't think so. This store is worth billions and the owner is suppose to be extermly nice and but very competive." Gwen said to her mother.   
  
"Plus Theresa doesn't know the first thing about business. She never even finished college." Rebecca said to her daughter as they both laughed over the phone.   
  
"So what have you been up to lately mother?" Gwen asked her.   
  
"Well, I have some terrible news. Someone bought the family estate along with the Crain estate. Now we'll never be able to get any of our stuff out of the Hotchkiss estate. The owner bought everything including our old stuff." Rebecca whined.   
  
"Don't worry mother we'll find away to get it all back. Now I have to go back to work." Gwen said to her.   
  
Gwen got off the phone and went to the new bridal section. She noticed two dresses sitting side by side. One was her old wedding dress before she found out about Theresa and the other was Theresa's dress from when the tabloid first came out. Two women came in and looked at these dresses and were amazed by their design. They asked for help and a sale representative came right over. Within minutes the dresses were bought. Gwen couldn't believe that she saw these two designs here. She was now becoming more worried that Theresa owned the place. She was able to calm herself down when she thought of how unmotivated Theresa was when it came to work. Theresa wanted everything given to her. She tried to mooch off of Julian once and she even tried to steal child support from Ethan. Gwen manipulated Ethan into making sure that no one knew where they had been for the last ten years. There was no way they were going to run into Theresa now; she was most definately sure of it. Still Gwen couldn't help but think that it was weird to see her first wedding dress there next to that slut Theresa's. After all, Theresa did design both of the dresses herself. Maybe she didn't design the dresses maybe she just copied off of someone else. She wouldn't be surprised if she did. Gwen walked back into her new office and sat down behind her desk. She couldn't believe that it was Felix that had hired her for this executive job. Felix wasn't even above her and he was the one to hire her. Felix was a bit of an annoyance though. She could see why the boss sometimes yelled at him. Gwen was beginning to like it here already.   
  
Theresa walked back into the Crain mansion. She walked upstairs and went directly into the Ivy's room. It looked as though she had never had left it. Her pink walls were still the same and her bed was made as though Ivy was going to be up here soon for bed. Her make-up and her hair accessories were all in there same spots. What was even surprising was the fact that all of Ivy's old wardrobe was still in her closet; even all her shoes were laid out so nicely. The Crains had left everything as it was; probably thinking that the next owner would be in awe of the Crain's and its once large empire, but Theresa wasn't. Theresa knew that this house was filled with many secrets and lies. Some of which had destroyed her along time ago; but never again. Never again would the Hotchkiss and the Crain empire be able to ruin her life as it did. She wouldn't let it happen. It had to all go; everything had to go.   
  
"Estella, that's your name right?" Theresa asked the woman standing next to her.   
  
"Yes my name is Estella, what can I do for you Miss." Estella asked her.   
  
"You work for me right?" Theresa asked this time.   
  
"Yes I do Miss. Can I do something for you?" Estella asked her.   
  
" I want you to go into that closet over there and take every bit of clothing and accessory out of there, now." Theresa demanded Estella.  
  
"What would you like me to do with it?" Estella asked her.   
  
"Take it home for all I care." Theresa said back to her.   
  
"But Miss, there is at least a 3million dollars worth of clothing in there." Estella said to her.   
  
" Well is there some sort of clothing store that will buy from me around here." Theresa asked her.   
  
"Well there is Grace Bennet's little clothing store in town." Estella said to her.  
  
"Grace Bennet owns a clothing store in Harmony? I didn't even know that she still lived here." Theresa said stunned by this information that she had just received.   
  
"No her niece Charity Murdock runs the store right now. Grace Bennet passed away about three years from a heart attack. She was only 55 years old." Estella said sadly.  
  
"I feel so sorry that I didn't know about Grace's passing. What about the chief Sam? Does he still live in Harmony?" Theresa asked.   
  
"No he left after Charity married. He's now married himself and he has another little girl by the name of Sarah. He named it after his first granddaughter who died when she was just born." Estella said sadly again.  
  
"Yeah well... I'm sure he is happy now." Theresa said sadly after hearing Sarah's for the first time in ten years."   
  
"How much do you want for the clothes?" Estella asked her.   
  
"Sell half the clothes for $40 bucks a piece and put the other half of the clothes in storage with the other stuff for now." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Yes mam." Estella said.  
  
"What's your name?" Theresa asked the other servant.   
  
"Jordan miss." Jordan replied to her.  
  
"Jordan I want you to clear this whole room. Get rid of everything; hair accessories, make-up, bed sheets, pillows, plants, everything. Then I want this nasty wallpaper torn down. I won't be here tommorrow, but you need to continue on to every room. I want everything into storage for now this mansion is to be cleared of the Crain's forever. Instead of having the party tommorrow; I'll wait for next week." Theresa said to her then left the room.  
  
It had been along time since he had been here. He was sure happy that his mother and his father no longer owned this place. He walked down the stairs all the way to the cellar. He had never been down here before. Security was so tight down here that it was basically impossible to even get past security without anyone knowing. Now there was no security and he was free to roam. He walked down the hallway until he came to a black door. He slowly opened the door and was startled to see what was inside of the small dark room. Inside there were control panels and about twenty different tv's . The TV's were displayed different rooms in the Crain mansion. He pushed a button and the volume came on to one of the rooms. It was the room that Theresa was in. He could hear her giving orders to the maids. He then realized that Julian and Alister had more televisions installed on the other side. What was on the other televisions was the most shocking of all. The other televisions portrayed the inside of people homes and other various places around Harmony. Grace Bennet's clothing store, the beach, and the park were just some of the places that the TV's had shown. Julian and Alister had cameras planted all over Harmony. They were spying on the good citizens of Harmony.   
  
Fox came upstairs and tapped Theresa on the shoulder she turned around startled that he had snuck up on her so easily.  
  
"Fox I didn't hear you come in." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Theresa if you keep ordering the maids to get rid of everything and to tear down the wall paper then this place will never be ready for the ball next week." Fox said to her.   
  
"How did you know that I ordered the maids to tear down this ugly pink wallpaper and how did you know that I wanted them to get rid of this crap?" Theresa asked him curiously.   
  
"Oh I heard and saw you on the TVs downstairs." Fox said casually.   
  
"What?" Theresa yelled at him.  
  
"Yeah it appears that Julian and Alister had some time of cameras placed all throughout this house and Harmony. I mean you can see into anybodies home you want to Theresa. You can even hear what they are saying." Fox said to her.  
  
"Wait are you trying to tell me that this house and the rest of Harmony are rigged?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"Yeah that's exactly what I'm trying to say. Alister even went as far as to rig your old house the one that you use to live. Well now there is young lady living there. She's upset because she got dumped. I think that I'm going to go give her call. After all I know what she's going through." Fox smiled at Theresa.  
  
"Fox's that horrible and besides we now have a bigger problem on our hands. We have to remove those cameras before Alistair sets us up big time." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Don't worry I'll have the ones in the town removed as for the ones here I don't think they need to be removed. When the hotel is finally finished we can ad more cameras. We'll used the cameras for security." Fox explained to her.   
  
"When do you think the hotel will be finished?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"I would say anywhere from six months to about a year; but if we hire 24 hour workers and split the shifts into three eight hour shift then it shouldn't take that long." Fox said to her.   
  
"Then get right on it." Theresa said to him.  
  
"I will then." Fox said to her as her phone rang.   
  
"Hello." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald, it's Felix." Felix said to her.  
  
"Felix what could you possibly want?" Theresa said to him in an annoyed voice.   
  
"I just wanted to tell you that I hired a new excutive for you." Felix said to her.   
  
"So, do you want a pat on the back for doing your job." Theresa said rudely to him.  
  
"No. I just wanted to let you know." He said to her.   
  
"Good what is she doing now?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"She is looking at new designs for our fall wedding dress display. I think that she really liked that wedding dress that you put up on display about a month ago. She said that she hadn't seen one like it in ages." Felix said to her.   
  
"Are you talking about my first wedding design?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"Yes, that's the one she seemed most caught up in." Felix said to her.   
  
"Felix does she happen to I don't know have blonde hair?" Theresa asked him anxiously.   
  
"Why yes she does. How did you know that?" Felix asked her.   
  
"You hired GWEN. Felix I could kill you." Theresa screamed loudly over the phone while Fox looked at her mortified at what she had just said. 


	17. The Proposal

She paced back and forth becoming angrier by the second. All she wanted to do was to go back and kill that bitch Gwen. Fox came up to her and blocked her from pacing.  
  
"Maybe it's not Gwen I mean Felix didn't say that it was Gwen." Fox said to her.   
  
"He didn't have to say that it was Gwen I know by the reaction that that bitch got from the dress that was on display. You know what I'm not going to let her ruin this for me. I'm going to put a stop to her once and for all." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Theresa let me talk to Felix." Fox said to her.   
  
"What's that going to do? It's not going to get rid of that stupid stuck up bitch." Theresa said to him.   
  
"Maybe it's not and you're just misunderstanding the situation." Fox said to her.   
  
Theresa reluctantly handed him the phone he took it from her and began to speak to Fox.   
  
"Felix, it's me Fox Crain. Tell me about this new excutive that you hired." Fox asked him.  
  
"Well she's from that family that is getting the charity from Ms. Lopez-Fitzgerald." Felix said to him.  
  
"Well Theresa problem solved. She's the lady who's going to get the charity money from you. What would Gwen need with charity money anyways; she's rich." Fox said to her.  
  
"No she's not her insipid father lost all of his money. That's why we got that house for so cheap." Theresa yelled at him.  
  
"The paper never said whether or not she lost her inheritance. She could have made out with it like my aunt Sheridan did." Fox said to her.   
  
"Well I guess you're right but I still think it could be her." Theresa said to him.  
  
"I'll make a deal with you. Once we fix the mansions up for hotels I'll leave for NY and see who the new executive is. If it turns out that that Felix hired her, I'll just quietly dispose of her and Felix." He said to her with a smile.   
  
"Fine. Tell Felix that he better hope that he didn't hire Gwen I'm going upstairs to see how the tearing of Ivy's room is coming." Theresa said to him before leaving.  
  
"Felix let me talk to the new executive right now." Fox demanded of Felix.   
  
"Yes sir." Felix said to him.  
  
"Hello. I'm Gwen Winthrope." Gwen said over the phone.   
  
Gwen wasn't able to get a response because as soon as Fox heard her voice and her name he hung up the phone immediately. Who couldn't believe that after ten years of having to watch Theresa rebuild herself up, her past was going to come back and bring back down. He didn't want to see her revert back to her old ways of waiting for Ethan to give her the time of day because he was too busy with Gwen. He had to watch as Gwen and Ethan both blamed and even ridiculed her for the death of their baby girl Sara. At that time it didn't matter to Theresa because she held onto this hope that Ethan would still come back to her. She held on to this until the very last moment when she finally realized that Ethan was never going to come back to her. He was leading her on like he always did. He didn't care about her at all, he only let her think that there was a chance because he liked having her on the side for those just incase times. Well this time it wasn't going to happen that way. He was going to take care of Ethan and Gwen once and for all. It was the only way he knew how to repay Theresa for the kindness that he had shown her over the past ten years.   
  
"Well, what did he say?" Theresa asked him in a desperate voice.   
  
"Don't worry he didn't hire Gwen. So would you like me to still go back?" Fox asked her.   
  
"Yes, I want to be on the safe side." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Okay then I'll go. What do you want to do now?" Fox asked her.   
  
"Let's take a trip into Harmony. I want to visit Charity." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Okay then." Fox said happy to get out of that disaterous situation.  
  
They drove down the path and Theresa was finally back to normal. She began talking and there was now a smile appearing on her face. When the limo reached Grace's little shop Theresa quickly hopped out of the limo and ran inside. Charity was at the register ringing up customers. Charity looked up and saw Theresa and couldn't believe that she had come back to Harmony. She looked very different since the last time I saw her Charity thought.   
  
"Theresa wow! It's been a long time since I seen you. How have you been? Did you hear about aunt Grace?" Charity said in a sad voice.   
  
"Yes I did and I am so sorry for you. I hear that you are now married." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Yes I did. His name is Alex Murdock, he's a prominent realastate agent in Harmony. He's makes really good money. We were thinking about moving four years ago but aunt Grace got really sick and then a year later she passed away. I wanted to stay and run the store and keep her legacy alive. In a way I wish that I could leave but I don't want to give this store up to anybody that's not family." Charity said to her.  
  
"What about Kay why doesn't she take over for you? It's not like she's married." Theresa asked her.   
  
"As you know Kay and I don't really get along. She said that she didn't want anything to do with this store; plus her modeling career is doing quite well. She's on a photo shoot over in Europe. It's a shame that she didn't even come to her mother's own funeral. She hadn't talked to Aunt Grace or Uncle Sam since you left." Charity said again.  
  
"Um... so when did the Russell's leave Harmony?" Theresa asked Charity hoping to avoid the whole Kay situation.   
  
"About five years ago. Mrs. Russell still comes hear once a month to do fill in work for the hospital. Ever since she left Harmony and exposed Liz her marriage to T.C has been stronger than ever. She also had another girl; her name is Mary Lynne Russell. Whitney and Simone don't visit their parents or their new sister anymore. In fact, they've both only seen Mary once; and that was when she was first born." Charity said to her.   
  
"Listen Charity I was wondering if you have heard from Gwen and Ethan lately. I'm not still after him I was just wondering if you have." Theresa said to Charity.  
  
"No I haven't; just like you they disappeared off the face of the planet, well that is until now." Charity said to her.   
  
"I was just wondering that's all." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Would you like to join me for lunch?" Charity asked Theresa.  
  
"Actually I half to get back to the Crain mansion." Theresa said to her.   
  
"Why?" Charity questioned.  
  
"I now own it and we're getting ready for a big ball and then we're going to be transforming the mansion into a beautiful huge hotel." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Wow! I guess you have been busy since you left." Charity said to her.   
  
"I'm governor of NY, I own a multibillion dollar fashion company, and I am now going to try my luck in the hotel business." Theresa said proudly.  
  
"Wow you have been busy. How's Miguel?" Charity asked her quite casually.  
  
"He's doing fine. He's studying at Berkley I think he's going to be a doctor." Theresa said to her.   
  
"Um Theresa the maids have finished with Ivy's room and I called a nearby storage area in Harmony they're coming to pick-up the items." Fox told her.   
  
"Charity how would you be interested in buying half of Ivy Crain's wardrobe?" Theresa asked her.   
  
"I would love to. How much?" Charity asked her.   
  
"Forty dollars an outfit." Theresa said to her.  
  
"Yeah sure that's cheap." Charity said.  
  
"Well I'm glad that you decided to buy half the wardrobe. Well I got to go now Charity maybe I'll see you before I go back to NY." Theresa said while waving goodbye and then proceeding into the limo.  
  
(3 ½ months later.)  
  
"I can't believe that we're finally done with the Crane mansion. This place looks absolutely fabulous." Theresa said to the architect.  
  
"We added five more stories and 110 rooms just like you asked. That brings the total to 365 rooms. I also included the other original rooms into the total room figure." The architect said.   
  
"Fox were you able to hire new staff members?" Theresa asked Fox.   
  
"Yes I did. The hotel is ready to be opened on time just like you requested. We can open next week." Fox said to her.  
  
"Perfect. Now on to the most important question, is the other building ready yet or not?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"Yes it is. We can start moving stuff right away." Fox told her.  
  
"Perfect they'll never know what hit them until it's too late." Theresa said while Fox smiled at her comment.  
  
Gwen and Ethan had finally moved out of the Sheridan hotel and into a nice little apartment in upper Manhattan. They both had good jobs and money was flowing in faster than they could have possibly imagined. Gwen could finally afford clothing for her daughters and Ethan worked so late that Gwen hardly ever saw him. Rebecca was complaining about how she had to work when Ethan and Gwen were making good money between each other. Gwen had to remind her mother that they wouldn't always have this luxary once she got her divorce from Ethan. Gwen could tell bagging grocerries at Shoprite was really starting to stress her mother out. She decided that it was time for her mother and her to get away from Ethan and the kids. It had just so happened that Gwen had finally found the perfect opportunity to do this. On the front page of the NY Times there was a report about how the Crain Hotel would finally be opening. Gwen and Rebecca hadn't been there since Julian kicked her mother out. Well Julian doesn't own the mansion anymore and I bet mother would love to go there for a while. I wonder what it looks like now. From the outside it looks much bigger and more alive. Gwen thought to herself. She knew that her mother was totally heartbroken when she gotten kicked out of the Crain mansion. It was her mother's goal to become a Crain. Who wouldn't want to be a Crain? They were at one time one of the most powerful families in the world alongside the Hotchkiss family. One day the Hotchkiss name would regain all of it's power again. Gwen would see to it. This job was just one step in many to come. Gwen knew that the only way of regaining her rich status was to get rid of Ethan and to get rid of him fast. Winthrope was a name of really old wealth. Once Ivy's father died their family wealth died with it. Although her plan to make Ethan a Crain failed, at least Theresa didn't get him. She was probably off somewhere with that little brat of hers collecting food stamps just to get by. Ethan could be dumb sometimes; she couldn't believe that he had actually listened to her when it came to child support for little Ethan. He played into her hands just like she had hoped for. Now there was no support coming to little Ethan from his father. Life was good for Gwen and it was only bound to get better. She knew in her heart that it was only going to get better. After all, she was a Hotchkiss to the core and a Hotchkiss got everything that they wanted or they wouldn't be rich.   
  
"Hello, this is Gwen Hotchkiss and I would like to make a reservation at your new hotel." Gwen said over the phone to the hotel clerk.  
  
"Well it looks like were book for opening day and the week to follow but let me see if there is anything available anyways." The clerk said to her.  
  
Gwen wait impatiently for the clerk to come back on the phone. During the time she had to listen to Latin music over the phone. What's with this Latin music? Gwen thought to herself. She was surprised to here Latin music because she had never heard it played while waiting on the phone. It reminded her of Theresa. She had to stop thinking about Theresa every time she saw a similar wedding dress or heard Latin music. Theresa was finally gone from her life and that's all that mattered to her; nothing else.   
  
"Ms. Hotchkiss I have two rooms opened up in the royal suites hallway. It is on the tenth story. That's all I have after that." The clerk said to her.   
  
"Fine I'll take it. How much?" Gwen asked the clerk.   
  
"400 a night." She replied.   
  
"Book me for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday." Gwen said to her.   
  
"How will you be paying for your stay?" The clerk asked Gwen.  
  
"Charge it to my visa card." Gwen said to her.  
  
"That'll be 1400 dollars." The clerk said.   
  
"That's fine." Gwen said then hung-up the phone and went back to work.   
  
"Make reservation at the new Crain hotel and make sure that Theresa' opening doesn't survive past the night." Alistair said to Julian.  
  
"Yes, father. I'm on it." Julian replied to Alistair. 


	18. Finally, Something to go on

"Man will you look at this place." Fox said to Theresa.  
  
"I can't believe that this used to be one of Harmony's richest families." Theresa said back to him.  
  
"There is going to have to be some major cleaning done in here before this place can even begin to be remodeled." Fox said.  
  
"Well I want to look around the rooms. I just have to see how Gwen and her bitch of a mother entertained themselves." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Be my guess. I'm going back to the Crain hotel to see if everything is ready for opening day. We need to think of a better name for the hotels." Fox said to her.  
  
"I know that. Hey we could name them after you." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Sure why not." Fox replied and then got into the limo.  
  
Theresa made her way up to the double wooden doors. She could tell by the outside that porch, the stairs, and the wood on the door had all been polished at one time or another. She opened the doors and was annoyed by how much dust and cobwebs there were. Everything had piles of dust on it. All the furniture was covered with dust as well. There were cob webs hanging from the ceiling. Theresa looked to her right to find the grand stair case that led to the room up above. The staircase was made out of old fashioned wood. By the looks of the Crain mansion from before, when Gwen, Ethan, Rebecca, and Theresa all lived there, she could tell that it wasn't Rebecca's taste for the old fashioned wood at all. She walked up the dusty stair case until she got to the top and went into the master bed room. This must have been Gwen's father's room. The first thing that she had noticed was the picture of her father and her on a fishing trip on the Hotchkiss yacht. Next to that was some old dusty files. Theresa went over there and started going through each file.  
  
Most of the files were business related, but then Theresa came to one file marked Gwen. She opened it up and found that it was a statement on her trust fund. She read the bank statement and noticed that a million dollars had been drawn out. That left the trust fund with only two million left. Gwen wasn't even the one to have withdrawn the money from the trust fund; it was her father that had withdrawn the money. Theresa started to look at each statement until she came to the last one. There was no more money left in her bank account. Gwen didn't receive a single penny from her father after he died because he had taken it from. He had taken the money after some business adventures had gone wrong. Just like the Crain's had done. If Gwen didn't have any of that money then that meant that her and Ethan could possibly be broke. The thought of this excited Theresa more than anything else could at the time. She felt as though they would finally pay for ruining her life. How much more could she ask for then that? Maybe there was more yet to come for them. She hoped that they had experienced terrible pain these last ten years.   
  
Ethan woke up late and noticed that Gwen was already gone. Her suitcase was packed and the kids were in their rooms quietly sleeping. He had also noticed that Rebecca and her suitcase were gone as well. Morgan saw her dad standing in the hall and went over to see him.  
  
"Hey daddy guess where mommy is?" She said to him.  
  
"Where is she pumpkin." Ethan asked her.  
  
"She and granny went to a hotel in Harmony. It's new." She said to him.  
  
"What hotel in Harmony? There are no hotels in Harmony." Ethan said to her.   
  
"Yes there is, it's called the Crain Hotel." Morgan said back to him.  
  
"No there is no such thing as the Crain Hotel. There's the Crain mansion but there is no Crain hotel. I'm sure of that sweetie." Ethan said to his little girl.  
  
"Actually there is. I heard mommy talking to granny about the reservations. Man mommy is right. You are stupid." Morgan said in a teasing voice.  
  
"Excuse me Morgan what did you say?" Ethan asked his little girl.  
  
"Mommy told granny that your stupid and then she said some big C word." Morgan told her father.  
  
Ethan looked at his child and then realized that Gwen did go away with her mother. He didn't understand why Gwen treated him the way she did. She was estatic when he chose her over Theresa. Now she was acting like she couldn't stand to be around him. He just didn't understand why she was like this. He knew that she went away with her mother for the weekend but he didn't believe that she went to someplace called the Crain Hotel.   
  
Ethan picked up the paper and began thumbing through it. He came to the back page and was startled by the advertisement; it was for the new hotel in Harmony. Why was he the last to know of these things. Ethan suddenly got an idea in his head. He called the kids down stairs and asked them if they wanted to surpise mommy and granny by going to the Crain hotel. They all giggled and smiled at the thought of getting to surprise their mother; she hated surprises.   
  
Theresa kept going through files until she had read them all. She then got up from her seat and walked down the hall until she came to Gwen's room. She walked into the room and looked around. Despite all the dust, it looked as thought Gwen had never left the room. She saw Gwen's laptop next to her dresser on the bed. She sat down on the bed and opened up the dresser drawer; inside the dresser was a floppy disk and Gwen's journal or diary, she didn't know which one. She looked at the floppy disk and decided to take a look at it. She couldn't believe that Gwen's computer actually booted up. She put the disk into the computer and loaded it up. She opened the document and was soon filled with rage and pain at what she saw. 


	19. Murder Gwen

Theresa began to feel her whole body fill up with rage and anger. She couldn't believe that after all this time she finally had something to go on. Something that would destroy Gwen and Ethan. The only problem was that she didn't want to destroy Gwen or Ethan she wanted to kill Gwen. There was nothing that she wanted more than ever than to even the score with her and her slut of a mother. 

The need and want filled her more and more. It was time to get rid of Gwen. No matter what and no matter how she promised herself right then and there; Gwen must die. There was no way around it. She looked around Gwen's room and smiled when she saw the letter opener on Gwen's desk. She walked down the stairs and slammed the door. She would find Gwen; she would find her tonight. 

Fox sat in the main office of the new hotel. He had a lot of thinking to do. Gwen was working at Theresa's. If Theresa ever found that he lied to her, it would end the friendship. He had no choice; it was the only way to protect her. If her and Gwen came to see each other it would ruin Theresa. She would have to be around Gwen. Then Ethan would make sure to incorporate himself into her life. Then he would have to watch Theresa turn back into her old self. There was no way he was going to let the happen. Gwen had to go; no matter what. He would kill her come tomorrow. Fox picked up the phone and dialed an outside number.

"Hello this is Aaron." Aaron Shultzer said.

"Hey Aaron it's me Fox Crane. I need a favor from you." Fox said.

"Sure what can I do for you?" Aaron asked him.

Theresa had to go back into the house to get the disk. This was driving her insane, having to go back into the house. She was wasting time by having to go back into the house. Theresa grabbed the disk and ran back out of the house and into her car. She raced down the road like a mad man. There was no time to be nice and courteous when she had someone to kill. If she had her way, Gwen would take her last breath tonight. All she had to do was find her. Once she found her that would be it. Gwen would be done and she would get her revenge.

Gwen and her mother had arrived safely to the hotel. When Rebecca saw how big the place was her eyes bulged. Gwen couldn't believe it either. She wondered what Julian and Alistair thought of the old Crane mansion being turned into a hotel. She hoped that it embarrassed them. They deserved to pay for what they did to her mother. Throwing her out; that was wrong of them. Gwen and Rebecca walked down the hallway of the old part of the mansion. They came up to the room that used to be Ivy's it was now a bathroom.

"Excuse me, is this Ivy Crane's old room right here?" Gwen asked the bellboy.

"Why yes it is. The owner decided that this would make the perfect place to take a crap. She said that Ivy was crap and therefore her room should be made into a bathroom. She has a great sense of humor don't you think?" The bellboy said. 

"You know Gweny, I think I'm really going to love it here. Oh I can't wait to meet the owner of this hotel. I bet we would get along." Rebecca said to her.

"Yeah I'm sure you would." Gwen agreed.

They got to their rooms and put their stuff down. Gwen and Rebecca got ready to go downstairs for dinner.

She hurried as fast as she could. She banged on Charity's door until the whole house was woken up with all of the commotion that Theresa was creating.

"Theresa what's wrong?" Charity asked her.

"Where is he?" Theresa asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Charity said to her.

"Where is Ethan? Tell me now. Charity don't make me any madder than I already am." Theresa yelled.

"Alright hold on a second, she steps outside and closes the door, the last time I heard from them they were living in a shack in Southern Massachusetts." Charity said to her.

"Give me the address, now." Theresa ordered. 

Charity got the address and Theresa grabbed it from her and started to walk away.

"What are you going to do Theresa?" Charity asked her.

"Charity you better hope and pray that I don't find Ethan and Gwen or the next time you'll see them will be when you're identifying their bodies in a morgue." Theresa yelled and then took off in her car.

"Gwen I'll meet you downstairs." Rebecca cheerfully said to her daughter.

"Alright I'll see you downstairs in a minute." Gwen said to him.

Fox came walking down the hall from his meeting with Aaron. He stopped in his place when he saw her; it was Gwen standing there happily. Fox walked up to her as she was about to lock her room and tapped her on the back. Gwen turned around and was startled to see him.

"Fox, what are you doing here? So how's that slut Theresa? I hope she's miserable." Gwen said.

"Theresa's fine but you Gwen, aren't going anywhere." Fox said to her.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked in a worried voice.

Fox didn't say anything he pushed Gwen back into the room and locked it behind him.

"What are you doing? Get away from me." Gwen yelled. 

Fox smiled at her and pulled out a gun. It finally seemed as though Gwen was finally going be meet the end.


	20. Kill Her or Not?

Fox smiled at her and pulled out a gun. It finally seemed as though Gwen was finally going be meet the end. Gwen stood there in fear. What was Fox doing here and why was he pulling a gun on her?   
  
"Fox what's going on? Did Theresa put you up to this? I bet she did. That stupid bitch hasn't gotten over the fact that Ethan is mine. He's mine Fox. Theresa is just going to have to get used to that fact. I won him fair and square. If Ethan loved her as much as he claimed he did then why did he choose me over Theresa?" Gwen asked him hoping to talk sense into him.   
  
"Gwen even you are not that dumb; you know why Ethan chose you. This really has nothing to do with Theresa; well it has a little to do with Theresa. Gwen you are about to meet the end. I can't wait to..."  
  
"Gwen aren't coming downstairs...oh you have company...Fox! What are you doing here?" Rebecca asked him.  
  
"Well Rebecca good your here why don't you go over there next to your daughter." Fox said to her.   
  
Fox showed her the gun and Rebecca's eyes widened. She went over next to Gwen and sat down on the bed.   
  
"Get up now." Fox demanded.  
  
"My feet are killing me." Rebecca whined.  
  
"I don't care if your feet were about to fall off. I want you standing right now." Fox demanded again.  
  
"Fox maybe we could strike some type of deal." Gwen said.  
  
"No we can't do any such thing. It's time for you to get what you deserve. I have to call Theresa first. I'm sure she'll want to be here." Fox said to them.  
  
Rebecca looked at him in disbelief while Fox dialed the phone. Theresa answered it on the first ring.  
  
"Hello." Theresa said.  
  
"Hey Theresa it's me Fox. Guess what?" Fox asked.  
  
"Fox I'm not in the mood. I have to find Gwen; I have a little score to settle with her." Theresa said.  
  
"Well you just in luck then. Gwen and Rebecca are sitting right in front of me." Fox said to her.  
  
"Wait a minute! They are there right now?" Theresa asked.  
  
"Yup." Fox said.  
  
"Are you certain?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"Well, I'm holding a gun to their faces; so yeah I'm sure." Fox said to her.  
  
"Good I'll be there in two hours. Don't let them out of your sight." Theresa said.  
  
"Well you two are in luck because Theresa will be here in two hours." Fox said.  
  
(Two Hours later.)  
  
Theresa walked into the hotel as fast as she could. She couldn't wait to see their reactions when they saw her. They were about to get what they deserved and they had no idea. Theresa walked down the hall and stopped at the room that Fox told her to go to. She took two deep breaths before she proceeding into the room. Now that the moment had finally come for her to tell Gwen exactly what she thought of her, she suddenly felt a little nervous. Why should she be nervous? Maybe it was because she had been waiting more than ten years to do this. She put her hand on the door when she felt someone touch her shoulder. Theresa turned around and saw Ethan standing there with four little girls. He looked much older than he used to. She looked at the young girls they all had blonde hair like Gwen. Ethan and Gwen had four young girls. Theresa said nothing to him and he said nothing to her.  
  
"Daddy who's this." Julie asked him.  
  
"Um...this is an old friend...he names Theresa. Hey girls why don't you go back to the room. I'll come back to get you in a minute." Ethan said to them.  
  
"So what are you doing here?" Theresa asked him.  
  
"I came to surprise Gwen. What are you doing in front of Gwen's door?" Ethan asked her.  
  
"I'm about ready to give your bitch of a wife a surprise that she'll never forget." Theresa said to him with a smile.  
  
"I can't believe that you are still bitter about me choosing Gwen over you. Theresa you haven't changed in over ten years." Ethan angrily said.  
  
"Ethan I have changed in more ways then you could possibly imagine. I'm ten times more successful then you ever were." Theresa said.  
  
"Yeah right. Theresa I bet you've done nothing with your life." Ethan said.  
  
"Ethan, I own the hotel that you're staying in." Theresa said.   
  
"No that's impossible the last time I saw you, you were so upset that you had lost me." Ethan smugly said.  
  
"Ethan that was ten years. I've moved on the only regard I have for you is pure hatred. You will pay big time. In fact, now that I have found you, I'm going to make you pay for all the child support you owe me." Theresa said.  
  
"Theresa if you're so rich as you proclaim you are, then why do I have to pay you child support?" Ethan asked her.   
  
"Ethan I guess being married to Gwen has made you stupid. Ethan you owe me child support from all those years ago and I intend to get every single penny." Theresa said to him.  
  
"Theresa no one is going to give a rich woman child support." Ethan said to her.  
  
"We'll see about that. Now I have an important meeting to tend to." Theresa said to him.  
  
"You're not allowed in there." Ethan said to her.  
  
"Actually, I am allowed in there." Theresa said then opened the door.  
  
"I should have known that you were behind this you slut." Rebecca yelled.  
  
"Shut-up! Shouldn't you be out selling your body somewhere? Anyways, I have a big surprise waiting for all of you downstairs. Ethan why don't you join us. I'm sure you all will find this fascinating." Theresa said.  
  
Fox led the way while Theresa hurried down the stairs. She went into the dinning room where a computer and a movie screen were sitting. She went up to the microphone and began to speak.   
  
"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please. A long time ago horrible happened and I was blamed for it. When in truth I never did it but the problem was that I didn't have proof that I didn't do it until now. So if you would all take your seats then we can begin the entertainment part of the evening." Theresa said with a smile.  
  
Theresa took the disk out of her purse and held it up to Gwen and Theresa's face. They noticed it at once and were soon filled with horror. She plopped it in and then loaded it up.   
  
Dear mother,  
  
I can't believe that Ivy and Ethan fell for the whole thing. Theresa taking the fall for us has to be the most brilliant thing that you have ever come up. I'm so glad that you loaded Ivy's letter to Sam onto a disk. Soon you will be Mrs. Crane and I will be there to comfort Ethan when he learns that his little slut has deceived him. She deserves everything that is handed to her. As soon as you become Mrs. Crane, you can get Ethan reinstated and then he'll marry me and forget all about her.   
  
Love Gwen  
  
"That's not all, there's more. You see Gwen was so stupid, she wrote her diary on this disk as well. Wouldn't you all like to know what else Ms. Hotchkiss has done?" Theresa asked the intrigued audience. 


	21. The Jig is Up

Ethan paced up and down the front of the new hotel in Harmony. He couldn't believe that he had actually come back to Harmony. After all of the heartache that he had endured here you would think that he would have left for good; but no he couldn't. He always believed that he was doing the noble thing when he married Gwen. He thought that he was doing the right thing by giving Sara a real family with a mother and a father that loved her. After her death, he felt so guilty about how he let his relationship with Theresa flourish again that he made a promise to never leave Gwen. So after ten years of blissful marriage, or so he thought, he couldn't get over how Gwen and her mother had been manipulating him from the beginning. 

Here he thought that Gwen was the innocent bystander in all of this only to find out that she was nothing but a manipulative bitch like her mother. He gave up his future with Theresa and their son just so that he could make Gwen happy. She had pressured him into making sure that he paid no child support and had cut his ties with Theresa. Now Theresa hated him more than ever and he was stuck being married to a spoiled bitch. He had never really thought of her as being that spoiled but after what he had heard of her tonight calling her spoiled was being much too nice. 

Gwen had made him feel guilty for killing Sara; but she wasn't even his little girl. She was someone else's daughter. Gwen probably had a one-night stand with one of her business associates in NY. Gwen came between his and Theresa's chance at finally being happy and she had killed his potentially half brother or sister. The pain and anger he was feeling was driving him crazy and it wasn't about to get any better. 

"So you must feel like an idiot." Fox said to him.

"Go away." Ethan said.

"No big bro, I don't have to go anywhere. So how does feel knowing that your wife is nothing but a whore." Fox said.

"She's not a whore." Ethan said.

"Well then what is she? An innocent bystander in this whole mess. Face it man, she and her mother screwed you over big time. She destroyed your chance at inheriting the Crane money and power, she destroyed your relationship to Theresa, and she conveniently got pregnant right before you were about to propose to Theresa." Fox said.

"I know what she did. Fox, just go away. You would never understand what it's like to try and do the right thing." Ethan said.

"You know Ethan everyone things you are this noble righteous person who's only trying to do the right thing but all you are is an insipid coward. Don't ever try to tell me how I don't know what the right thing is when you yourself have no clue at all. If anything I'm a much better person then you'll ever be. Why don't you go back to your room and sleep on that little statement." Fox said and walked away. 

Gwen sat in her dark cold hotel room crying. How could Theresa do this to her and her family. Yes she was thinking of leaving Ethan but she wasn't sure if she could actually leave him. Now that the truth was out, he would be the one leaving her. Theresa had done it again. She had destroyed her and Ethan's happiness all because she needed a little revenge against her. This was all Theresa's fault; no one else's. Theresa made her send the email to the tabloid, she made her poison her that night, and she made her loose her precious baby girl Sara. It was all of Theresa's fault. Gwen heard her door open and quickly picked her head up.

"Mother, it's you." Gwen said.

"Well who else were you suspecting Gwen." Rebecca said.

"I thought that Ethan might have come back after he took off at dinner tonight." Gwen said.

"Listen honey, I know how upsetting this whole situation with Theresa has been but I don't think you will have to worry about loosing Ethan." Rebecca said.

"Why shouldn't I be worried about loosing him?" Gwen said.

"There is no way he's going to give up on a marriage that has lasted ten years and that has produced four kids. Not to mention that you are about to have twins soon." Rebecca said.

"Not for another three months mother." Gwen replied back.

"So does that really matter? Gwen if Ethan wanted to be with Theresa he would have gone back to her. He wouldn't have stayed committed to you." Rebecca said.

"I guess we'll soon find out." Gwen said. 

"Well, I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning dear." Rebecca said.

"Good night mother." Gwen replied.

Gwen heard another knock at her door. When she opened it, she found Theresa standing outside the door. 

"Well, well, well, look who's here the little tramp." Gwen said.

"Well Gwen, it seems that after your little secrets came flying out tonight, everyone seems to agree that your the tramp. So let me guess, Ethan got tired of you and decided to bail on you." Theresa said.

"No he's out on a walk." Gwen said.

"From what I saw it looked like he was sprinting out of here." Theresa said.

"I'm not surprised that he's mad after you tried to ruin his life again." Gwen said.

"I didn't have to do anything; you did that all on your own. What kind of person leaves their diary on a disk for someone else to read? Gwen you are pathetic and soon I'll get everything I always wanted and you and your mother can count on not liking it at all." Theresa said and then walked out of her room.


	22. A Thorn in My Side

"So you admit that you're still going after Ethan. You've already gotten everything that you always wanted; oh wait no you haven't. The one thing you're still counting on getting is Ethan. Well, I'm sorry Theresa because you will never have him. He'll never leave me and you can thank yourself for that." Gwen said with a smile.  
  
"What do you mean?" Theresa asked.  
  
"You pushed me the night that I lost Sara; you threw me to the ground and caused me to loose Sara. You couldn't keep you disgusting hands off my husband. You caused me to loose Sara. Ethan won't leave me because he promised me that nothing would come between us and that includes you Theresa." Gwen said.  
  
"Well, that may have been the case then but Sara isn't even Ethan's daughter. Do you think you can guilt him into staying with you? No Gwen he's finally seen you for the gold digging slut you are." Theresa said.  
  
"You haven't changed one bit; you might have all this money and power but you don't have the one thing you've been waiting for all these years and that is Ethan. What a sad life you've must have led all these years." Gwen said.  
  
"Actually I've been enjoying my nice big house. Oh but don't worry because I will repay you the favor and take Ethan away from you just like you took him away from me all those years ago except this time I'll have two men and you'll have none." Theresa said.  
  
"Ethan isn't ever going to leave me." Gwen said with a smirk.  
  
"You're wrong Gwen; I'm going to leave you and this time for good." Ethan said to astonished Gwen and Rebecca.  
  
"Ethan, don't you see what Theresa is doing to us. Yes, I've made mistakes but Theresa has been a thorn in our side. If I didn't lie to you…"  
  
"Then you would have lost and Theresa would have won. Theresa has made mistakes but you take the cake. You've hurt more people than Theresa has ever hurt and you still try to blame her for all of it. Gwen you've ruined my life but it's not just me you've ruined. You've ruined my mom, Grace, Sam, and Theresa. You killed Grace's baby, that was her last chance to conceive and you killed that dream for her. Julian and my mother divorced and because of that my mom moved in on my dad. She ruined their marriage and was put in jail for fraud. You gave her the opportunity to do all that. Gwen do you have no shame? What about me? I'm not a Crane anymore; I had so much trouble finding a job. That's not even the worst part, I didn't want to be with you but you made sure to push your way into my life. Gwen you called Theresa a delusional psycho path; well, I think you should take a hard look in the mirror." Ethan said.  
  
"Ethan what about the promise you made on Sara's coffin?" Gwen asked him.  
  
"The deals off since she's not even my daughter. Have a great life Gwen." Ethan said and then walked out of the room.  
  
  
  
  
  
Theresa took one last look at Gwen before leaving the room; Gwen was no longer a problem for her. She closed the door behind her and saw Fox standing in the hallway. He looked angry at her but she didn't know why.  
  
"What's wrong?" She asked him.  
  
"Nothing; I heard what happened." Fox said to her.  
  
"Isn't it great; Ethan's going to leave Gwen for…"  
  
"For you; that's what you were going to say right?" He asked her.  
  
"Fox you don't understand; I've been waiting ten years for this." Theresa said.  
  
"No Theresa you don't understand, I've been waiting ten years for you to get over my big bro and here you are still pinning away for him." Fox said.  
  
"No I'm not I'm just…"  
  
"Theresa don't you see, you're being dragged in once again. Theresa if you decide to be with Ethan again then fine; but don't expect me to stick around. I'm going to stick around and watch you destroy your life." Fox said.  
  
  
  
  
  
Theresa watched him walk away; she hadn't realized that Gwen was listening in the whole entire time. She closed the door and smiled to herself; she knew what she needed to do now. Fox was the key to destroying Theresa completely. Theresa had stolen Ethan from her and now it was time to pay her back by taking Fox from her. She didn't need her mother's help this time. She would do it all by herself.   
  
"Mother it's time to go to bed; we've got to get back to NY tomorrow. I have a lot to do." Gwen said.  
  
"Oh darling, I know you're upset about what happened but don't worry honey, you won't loose Ethan to that skank." Rebecca said.   
  
"No mother Ethan and I are finished but don't worry Theresa won't have anyone as well. " Gwen said.  
  
"What do you mean?" Rebecca said.  
  
"Just wait and see what I do to the rich bitch. She won't know what hit her until it's too late." Gwen said.  
  
"I like the way you thing Gwennie!" Rebecca said.  
  
  
  
  
  
Fox lay in hotel room holding a picture of Theresa in his one hand and a picture of Whitney in the other. Whitney had rejected him when he told her his true feelings. She told him to go away and leave her alone so he did. He followed Theresa out to NY where he became her confidant and her business associate. As time went on he realized that he actually loved Theresa but she never returned those same feelings for him. No matter what he did he always managed to come in second place.   
  
  
  
  
  
The phone rang but she was reluctant to pick it up. After four rings she finally gave in and picked it up.   
  
"Hello." She said.  
  
"Hello, may I speak to Ms. Whitney Russell." The woman said.  
  
"Gwen is that you?" Whitney said.  
  
"Yes it is; Whitney I'm so glad that I caught you." She said.  
  
"Well what can I do for you Gwen?" Whitney said.  
  
"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something." Gwen said.  
  
"What did you want to talk about?" Whitney asked.  
  
"I want to you about getting back together with Fox Crane." Gwen said with a smile. 


	23. Whitney

Whitney sat in her hot tub. It had been over ten years since she had seen Theresa. Ever since the fiasco that had occurred in LA, Whitney and Theresa had drifted farther apart. Whitney hadn't approved of what Theresa had done and Theresa couldn't stand her hypocrite friend anymore. In the next five months, Theresa had left and Whitney hadn't bothered to track her down. Whitney moved to LA to pursue an acting career and ended up marrying Chad, even though she was madly in love with Fox. She and Chad had two daughters before divorcing after six years of marriage.   
  
One day, Whitney had opened up the newspaper to find an article on her friend's successful fashion career and her new campaign to become the next governor of New York. Much to the dismay of Whitney, she couldn't believe that her friend had actually become successful at anything. To Whitney, Theresa was everything she hated. Why couldn't her friend be level headed like she was. Whitney had to earn her success. She believed that Theresa had become successful by granting men sexual favors. After all, that's what Theresa was good at. Theresa knew how to seduce men away from their wives; that's what she had done to Gwen Winthrope.   
  
The phone was ringing in the other room now. Whitney rolled her eyes at the lack of house keepers. They were never around when she need them the most and that was always. Her kids were out of town so there was no way their lazy asses were going to answer the phone. Since she didn't feel like it was her duty to answer the phone she let the answering machine take the call.  
  
"Hey Whit, it's me Gwen. I was just wondering if I could talk to you sometime. I have something exciting to tell you; so give me a call sometime soon." Gwen said.  
  
Gwen Winthrope had called her but why? And did this little call have anything do with Theresa? As soon as the maid came over tomorrow she would instruct her to call her back. Whitney went back to enjoying her scented candles and hot tub. She closed her eyes and laid her head back against the tub. Tomorrow she would call; this she was certain of.  
  
Why hadn't she picked up the phone? She was certain that she would be there. From what she knew, Whitney wasn't shooting another film or TV show for another three months. It didn't matter though. Soon she would have Whitney reunited with her true love Fox and Theresa would be out in the cold. Ethan in time would come back to her as soon as he realized that only Gwen could give him what he wanted and needed he would be running back to her. Theresa might be rich and all but there was one thing she wanted and need and that was Ethan. No matter how much she tried to really act like she was over Ethan, Gwen knew that that wasn't the real truth. She was always there filling Ethan's life with lies. She had manipulated him so badly that he actually believed he really did love her when that really wasn't the truth at all. He loved her, Gwen, he just was to manipulated by Theresa to realize that but soon he would.  
  
How was she able to manipulate guys so much that they thought they loved her when they really didn't. Fox and Ethan were just misguided and soon she and Whitney were going to get their men and defeat the evil that was Theresa. Theresa wasn't going to get to have her way with other ladies' men. That she was certain of.   
  
Fox lay in his bed looking at a picture of Theresa and another one of Whitney. After telling Whitney of his feelings for her and after she had rejected him for Chad, he left Harmony in pursuit of becoming friends with Theresa. At the time she was still hell bent on making Ethan hers. They both were mending broken hearts and Fox had decided that he would help Theresa get over Ethan but he didn't count on getting over Whitney as well. Fox had helped Theresa get her fashion career started around the same time the Crane empire had fallen.   
  
As time went on he began to develop deep feelings for Theresa. At first he thought there were just feelings of friendship but soon even he realized that that wasn't the case. Theresa had grown on him but he could tell that the same wasn't for her. She seemed to not pay any attention to him other than as a friend. Now that Ethan was practically free he knew that Theresa's hatred for him wouldn't last long. She always had a soft spot for him and she always fell for everything he said and did. Fox stood no chance against his half-brother. He wasn't even a powerful Crane, neither was Fox since the Crane empire had fallen, but he still walked and talked like he was. This irked Fox more than anything else. Ethan always came off as this good little boy and Fox came off as the devil incarnated and Theresa fell for it every time.   
  
The door to Fox's room opened. Fox looked up to see Ethan standing there with a sympathetic smile on his face. Fox rolled his eyes and quickly hid the two pictures under his pillow. Ethan came into his room and closed the door he sat on the bed and waited for Fox to say something.  
  
"Uh...what are you doing in here?" Fox asked.  
  
"I'm glad you asked Fox. I just wanted to tell you that now with everything that happened I've decided to leave Gwen and pursue Theresa again." Ethan announced.  
  
"Okay, why are you telling me this?" Fox asked.  
  
"I just wanted to make sure that you stayed away Theresa. I don't care what she says. I believe you've been a bad influence on her. You're a Crane through and through Fox and I don't like it one bit." Ethan said.  
  
"You know for once I want you to cut out the I'm better than you attitude. If anyone's a real Crane here it's you. You couldn't wait for the moment when you could ditch your four children and live happily ever after with Theresa. Well let me tell you, I've taken special precautions to make sure that you don't ever get that chance." Fox said.  
  
"What precautions have you taken Fox?" Theresa asked him.  
  
Whitney pulled her self out of the tub. She dressed immediately and dialed Gwen. She waited impatiently for her to pick-up. Once she heard her voice she said hello and told her to get to the point as to why she called.  
  
"Well Whitney, you must be patient." Gwen said.  
  
"Well, I don't have to be patient. I'm a rich actress; I don't have to wait for anyone." Whitney said.  
  
"You know what? Just forget; I just called to tell you that I ran into the love of your life." Gwen said.  
  
"You ran into Fox?" Whitney asked.  
  
"Yes I did and guess what? Theresa is seducing him to marry her as we speak." Gwen said.  
  
"Who does she think she is? Fox is my man and I'll be damn if I let that two timing slut have him. She won't take Fox away from me like she took Ethan away from you. You know Gwen I've never forgiven her for what she did in LA. She killed your baby and she has the gall to have no remorse for it. Where are you Gwen?" Whitney asked.  
  
"I'm in Theresa's new hotel in the Crane mansion." Gwen said.  
  
"Well don't worry I'll be down there tomorrow." Whitney said.  
  
"Good I'll see you then." Gwen said with a smile. 


	24. This Is It

"What precautions have you taken Fox?" Theresa asked him.

"Theresa, what are you doing in here?" Fox asked back.

"Answer me Fox; what special precautions have you taken?" Theresa asked him.

"Theresa, I don't know what you're talking about." Fox said.

"Fox, you're a bad liar. Now tell me what's going on. Why are you talking to Ethan?" Theresa asked.

"Theresa, Fox and I were talking about how great it is that you exposed Gwen and we just wanted to take special precautions to make sure that you aren't attacked by Gwen." Ethan.

"That's very nice of you Ethan but I still don't believe either one of you." Theresa said.

"Theresa what else would we be talking about?" Fox asked.

"I don't know. It just doesn't look like either one of you are happy about what happened tonight. In fact, you both look like you're going to kill each other." She said.

"Well, don't worry about that Theresa; besides, Fox wouldn't stand a chance against me." Ethan said.

"We'll see Ethan; we'll see." Fox said.

"Okay you both are acting strange. What's going on here?" Theresa asked.

"Nothing Theresa; you know what? Why don't you go back to bed and we'll continue this conversation tomorrow." Fox said.

"Well you know what? I don't want to go back to bed until one of you explains what is really going on and don't give me that you guys were just celebrating my victory over Gwen crap. I want the truth and I want it right now." Theresa said.

"What are we going to do about Theresa?" Rebecca asked her daughter.

"We're going to make her life miserable like we always do. Except this time she won't rise to get back at us again." Gwen said.

"Oh and how are we going to do that?" Rebecca asked her.

"We're going to murder her." Gwen said simply.

"I'm not going to jail for killing that Mexican slut. No Gwennie, I'm sorry but you're on your own on this one." Rebecca said.

"Mother, we're not going to actually kill her ourselves. We're going to mess with her mind and make her kill herself. So you see it won't really be us doing anything at all." Gwen said.

"I still don't see how we're going to be able to get her to do this to herself. After all, she's the one on top right now. So how are we going to get her so depressed that she goes over the edge and kills herself?" Rebecca asked.

"It's not a question of how it's a question of who's going to do it for us and I have the perfect candidate for the job mother." Gwen said.

"Who is it Gwen? Who's going to kill Theresa for us?" Rebecca said with an evil smile planted on her face.

"I'll tell you when the time is right." Gwen said.

I can't believe I'm doing this. Whitney said on the plane to Harmony. I know that I let Fox go but there's no way in hell that I'm letting Theresa take him from me when he was mine in the first place. Once he sees me he'll realize that he doesn't want Theresa. He's just going through a tough time right now and Theresa sinking her teeth into him isn't making it any better for him. Gwen's right; I have to stop Theresa before she tries to ruin another couple.

Fox grabbed Theresa's arm and pulled her down the hall to her bedroom. Theresa protested loudly enough to get one of the maid's attention. Fox told the maid to get back to work and pulled her into her bedroom.

"What the hell is your problem Fox?" Theresa said angrily.

"Listen Theresa, I don't want you to be angry but..."

"I think it's a little too late for that." Theresa said.

"Theresa I think you just need to go back to bed and not see Ethan right now." Fox said.

"Why not? Why shouldn't I see Ethan right now?" Theresa asked.

"Because Theresa, if you and Ethan start talking again, I know that you'll be right back to chasing after him and ruining your life all over again." Fox said.

"Fox I think you're taking this way too seriously." Theresa said.

"Theresa, I was there the last time Ethan decided to break your heart and it almost destroyed you." Fox said.

"Yeah but..."

"No buts Theresa. It's time to get away from him once and for all. Theresa the guy is a total looser. Do you know what's happened to him in the past ten years? He's been living in a shack with his mother-in-law, wife, and their four kids. The guy's a total moocher and low life and he'll use you to get what he wants." Fox said.

"Fox I think you're jealous of Ethan." Theresa said.

"Theresa if that's what you think then I guess you really don't know me after all." Fox said.

"You're jealous of him because unlike him, he's always gotten what he's wanted and you haven't been as lucky as he has." Theresa said.

"Yeah Theresa and what do you think he wants now?" Fox asked her.

"I don't know Fox; what does he want?" Theresa asked him.

"Theresa you know full well what he wants. He wants you Theresa." Fox said.

"So what if he does. Why does that bother you so much?" Theresa asked.

"Theresa it's just that..."

"Fox do you like me?" Theresa asked.

"Theresa it's late I think that we should just..."

"Fox I asked you a question now please answer me." Theresa demanded.

"Theresa I..."

"Fox, I'm so glad to see you again. Fox I've decided that you were right. We should have never been parted. So I've decided to take you back after all." Whitney said


End file.
